the route is owned by CSX Transportation while 16 miles are owned by SunRail. The trains are known by their route numbers internally by Amtrak. When communicating on the CSX road channels, they are known by their CSX designations: P053xx and P052xx, where xx is the 2-digit date on which the train departed its origin station. For example, a southbound train that departed on the 23rd of the month would be known as CSX P05323 on the road channels. This allows for unique identification when two trains on the same route are operating simultaneously. Ridership Ridership hit a peak of 274,445 in Amtrak's fiscal year 2014. Ridership declined through 2019, then dropped some 30% to 163,556 in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It recovered somewhat in 2021 to 199,414 and then set a new ridership record in 2022 with 279,019 passengers. The Auto Train has the highest revenue of any Amtrak long-distance train. The train had total revenue of US$75,169,554 in FY2016, down 7.9% from FY2015. Operations The train operates every day. At 12:30 pm, the station gates are opened to allow the vehicles into the vehicle staging area. Here, each vehicle is assigned a unique number, which is affixed to the driver's door magnetically. The vehicle is typically videoed to document existing dents and other damage, in case a damage claim is later filed. The passengers leave their vehicles here and take their carry-on bags with them into the station to await boarding. The vehicles are then staged near the autorack ramps by size and length for optimal loading order and are then loaded onto the autoracks. Motorcycle owners help tie their bikes down to a motorcycle carrier that is then loaded into the autorack. Passengers cannot access their vehicles during the trip. The last vehicles and passengers are accepted up until 3 p.m., after which the autoracks are closed and coupled together, the passenger cars are coupled together in the case of Sanford departures, and the autoracks are coupled to the rear of the consist. At 5 p.m., the train departs the station. About 1 a.m., the train makes its sole scheduled stop, at the Florence, South Carolina, station, where a new engineer and conductors take over and the train takes on fuel and water. No passengers embark or disembark here. The schedule calls for the trains to arrive in Lorton and Sanford about 10