Annual Amtrak Ridership Sets All-Time Record

[Lunican]

Annual Amtrak Ridership Sets All-Time Record; Sixth Straight Year of Increases

Ridership Tops 28.7 Million, $1.7 Billion in Ticket Revenue

WASHINGTON - Amtrak ridership in Fiscal Year 2008 increased to 28,716,407, marking the sixth straight year of gains and setting a record for the most passengers using Amtrak trains since the National Railroad Passenger Corporation started operations in 1971. The fiscal year ended September 30, 2008.

All Amtrak trains across the system saw increases in ridership. The 28.7 million total for the period October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008, topped the 25,847,531 for the previous 12 months by 11.1 percent. Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year reached $1.7 billion, a 14.2 percent increase over the $1.5 billion in FY07.

"After another record-breaking year, in which the railroad achieved double-digit growth, Amtrak has solidified its role as a leader in the nation's transportation network and proven intercity passenger rail's relevance in today's world," said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak. "Highway and airway congestion, volatile fuel prices and increasing environmental awareness all contributed to Amtrak's successful year, as did our continually improving service and on-time performance."

Kummant added, "With the recent passage of a reauthorization bill, which includes a significant state and federal capital matching grant program, we also look forward to expanding state partnerships to provide more rail service in growing corridors nationwide."

East Highlights

Revenue growth was the greatest in the Northeast, where ticket receipts reached $863.4 million, a 14.6 percent increase over last year's ticket revenue.

The popularity of the Acela Express service continued in FY08 and trips increased by 6.5 percent with 3.3 million passengers and a nearly 16 percent increase in revenue to $468 million.

Regional Service was relaunched more than half way through the fiscal year as the Northeast Regional with great success. The refurbished and upgraded trains saw a 9.5 percent increase in ridership by the end of the fiscal year to 7.5 million and a 13.4 percent increase in ticket revenue to $481.6 million.

The Keystone Service, which operates between Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York City, experienced significant growth with a 19.8 percent increase in ridership, surpassing the one million mark with 1,183,821 passengers in FY08. Moreover, ticket revenue increased by 20 percent, to $24.7 million.

New York's Empire Service, which operates daily between New York City, Albany/Rensselaer and other upstate New York destinations, carried 994,293 passengers in FY08, a four percent increase over the same period last year. Ticket revenue topped $ 41 million, a 6.5 percent hike over the previous 12 months.

The Downeaster, operating several times daily between Portland, Maine and Boston, Mass., experienced significant growth with a 31 percent increase in ridership, reaching 474,492 in FY08. The Downeaster also earned $5.8 million, which represents a 36.7 percent increase in ticket revenue from a year ago.

Central Highlights

Steep growth in ridership is also reported from the Amtrak hub in Chicago, with Hiawatha Service ridership up nearly 26 percent on the trains sponsored by the Wisconsin and Illinois state transportation departments. Nearly 750,000 passengers rode the seven daily round-trips between Milwaukee and Chicago last year, an increase of more than 150,000 passengers.

The Illinois DOT also supports service between Chicago and Downstate Illinois, with more than one million passengers riding the routes, the first time that milestone has been reached. Ridership on the Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service corridor, via Bloomington-Normal and Springfield, is up 14 percent to total 543,642, while on the Illini and Saluki route to Carbondale, via Champaign and Mattoon, ridership is 304,435, up by 15 percent, inclusive of local passengers on the City of New Orleans trains between Chicago and Carbondale. On the route of the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg to Quincy via Galesburg and Macomb, ridership is up 19 percent and totals 231,701, including local travel on the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr between Chicago and Galesburg.

Elsewhere in the Central U.S., Kansas City to St. Louis ridership is up by more than 30 percent on the two daily round-trips sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation and Heartland Flyer ridership between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City increased by 18.5 percent on the daily round-trip supported by the Texas and Oklahoma state departments of transportation.

West Highlights

Western corridor trains achieved record ridership month-after-month throughout the fiscal year. In Southern California, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service which operates between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, carried more than 2.89 million passengers, a seven percent increase. Ticket revenue was more than $51 million, an increase of nine percent.

In the Central Valley, the San Joaquins service, Oakland/Sacramento to Bakersfield, carried nearly a million passengers (949, 611) an 18 percent increase with $2.9 million in ticket revenue, a 21.6 percent increase. July 2008 ridership topped 100,000 passengers for the first time in the history of this service, a 32 percent increase over July 2007.

In Northern California, more than 1.69 million passengers rode the Capitol Corridor service, Auburn to San Jose, a 16.8 increase over the same period last year. Ticket revenue was up 23 percent, reaching $22 million.

In the Pacific Northwest, ridership on the Amtrak Cascades service, Eugene, Ore. to Vancouver, B.C. was up more than 12 percent (760,323). Ticket revenue exceeded $20 million, an increase of 15 percent. This service has seen double digit increases for the past nine months (January - September 2008).

National Highlights

Among the trains on the Amtrak national network, the Empire Builder is again the most popular overnight train. With more than 554,000 passengers, the daily Chicago-St. Paul-Seattle/Portland train showed an increase of 9.8 percent. The Texas Eagle (Chicago-San Antonio) had the largest percentage increase among long-distance trains with 15.2 percent ? 251,518 passengers for the year.

The Silver Service (New York-Miami) trains continued to grow: the Silver Star carried 367,139 passengers (+11.5 percent) and the Silver Meteor reached 319,773 passengers (+9.6 percent). The Capitol Limited (Washington DC-Chicago) had a strong year, increasing ridership by 11.7 percent and the Palmetto (New York-Savannah) and Crescent (New York-New Orleans) both had increases over 10 percent.

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