Amtrak's Ridership Record is Small Town Stuff

[Ocklawaha]

Just the 21 people visible in the photo would half fill a typical Greyhound Bus, but its a safe bet there are about the same number behind the photographer at Amtrak's Havre, Montana Station.

For a number of years MJ and I have been preaching the virtues of rail passenger services that INCLUDE intermediate stops. Invariably we get a host of posts about how someone would take the train IF 'it ran non-stop to...' which of course assumes that only people in large cities need to travel, and that picking up a dozen or two people along the way is somehow not worth the trouble.

Along any given passenger train or bus route, the passenger load will ebb and flow on a station by station basis, not on an end to end basis such as that of an airliner. There is certainly no rule that every train must stop at every station, but the rule of thumb should always be that every station gets at least some train service daily.

The argument is highlighted by this article just in from Progressive Railroading Magazine's daily news service:

10/19/2012 11:00:00 AM   

Lack of access to bus, air service in smaller communities boosts Amtrak ridership, Boardman says

Amtrak's record ridership of more than 31.2 million riders in fiscal-year 2012 can be attributed in part to a decline in intercity bus and air service in many small and mid-sized communities, Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Boardman said yesterday.

The ridership record was achieved "station by station" in hundreds of smaller communities across the nation, as widespread demand for travel by rail continues to grow, he said.

"Amtrak provides a vital transportation service to this country, often serving as the only intercity travel mode in many of the communities we serve," Boardman said in a prepared statement, noting that intercity bus and air service has declined "precipitously" in many parts of the country in recent years.

Over the past five years, the number of Americans who no longer have access to intercity bus or air service â€" and are served only by Amtrak â€" has tripled, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In FY2012, Northeast Corridor ridership grew 4.8 percent to a record 11.4 million, state-supported and other short distance routes increased 2.1 percent to a record 15.1 million, and long-distance services shot up 4.7 percent to 4.7 million for their best showing in 19 years, Amtrak officials said.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced its state-owned Amtrak Piedmont service was first in the nation in ridership growth among Amtrak routes in FY2012.

Piedmont, which serves the Raleigh-to-Charlotte rail corridor, transported 163,000 riders during the 12-month period, a 16 percent increase compared with FY2011, NCDOT officials said in a prepared statement.

"It's very satisfying to know that more North Carolinians are using train travel as an option," said NCDOT Rail Division Director Anthony Fuller.

The Piedmont makes two round trips daily between Raleigh and Charlotte, and serves seven other North Carolina cities.

SOURCE: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=33016

The Piedmont and Carolinian meet at the High Point Station, NC.

[BackinJax05]

Good points. Plus, whenever I ride Amtrak I LIKE stopping at the small stations along the way. Two of my favorites in Florida are Sebring and Okechobee?(sp)