WASHINGTON – Anticipating the busiest travel week of the year, Amtrak is planning ahead for the Thanksgiving holiday and encouraging passengers to do the same. The week of Thanksgiving — Tuesday, November 25 through Monday, December 1 — is typically Amtrak’s busiest travel period of the year, carrying more than 665,000 passengers last year.
On what is anticipated to be the heaviest travel day of the year for Amtrak, Wednesday, November 26, the railroad expects ridership to reach nearly 128,000 passengers systemwide — a 65 percent increase over the 78,000 passengers Amtrak carries on an average Wednesday.
In preparation for the holiday week, Amtrak is taking several steps to ensure that passengers have an enjoyable trip, officials said.
In the Northeast, extra equipment will operate during the week, with most of the additional trains running on the two busiest travel days, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 and the Sunday after, Nov. 30. A special Thanksgiving Holiday Timetable for the Northeast Corridor services is also now available at Amtrak stations in the Northeast.
Additionally, all Amtrak trains in the Northeast will require reservations — including the Harrisburg-Philadelphia Keystone Service trains and the New Haven-Springfield Shuttles.
