Amtrak Case Study Boosting Domestic Revenue by Engaging Global Customers

Amtrak, known as “America’s Railroad,” serves as the nation’s intercity passenger rail provider and high-speed rail operator. Covering 21,000 route miles across 46 states, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces, Amtrak runs more than 300 trains daily to over 500 destinations. 

While conducting market research, Amtrak identified the expanding U.S. Hispanic market as a strategic priority. The company aimed to provide online information and ticket purchasing options for Spanish-speaking customers within the United States. While Amtrak initially explored creating a Spanish-language site using internal teams, it quickly realized the project would demand significant IT labor, slowing down progress and increasing costs. 

Amtrak selected MarketFully as its website localization partner due to its rapid deployment capabilities, ease of implementation, and overall cost-efficiency. Within fewer than 60 days—and without requiring any IT integration—MarketFully launched a fully operational, fully translated Spanish version of the site. 

Outcome

Amtrak’s Spanish-language site successfully connected with the U.S. Hispanic audience it targeted. Unexpectedly, it also attracted users from Spain and South America, revealing new international opportunities Amtrak had not previously considered. This discovery led to additional launches in German, French, and Chinese, each proving even more cost-effective than the last. Notably, the most recent Chinese site recouped its investment in under 30 days. 

Even more impactful, MarketFully’s continuous optimization services drove exceptional ROI and consistent year-over-year revenue growth. Locally optimized sites produced a 4-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 60% between FY ’10 and FY ’14. 

  • Amtrak localized its site for U.S. Hispanics—and quickly uncovered additional demand from Spanish-speaking audiences abroad 
  • This revelation prompted the rollout of German, French, and Chinese sites 
  • Every new site achieved payback in under three months