(The following appeared on the State Journal-Register website on February 15, 2011.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Nearly 194,000 passengers used Amtrak service between St. Louis and Chicago from January through October, an 11.7 percent increase that puts the route among the 10 busiest corridors nationwide.
Travel on the central Illinois corridor reflected 15 straight months of growth nationwide.
The 10 busiest Amtrak routes nationwide are as follows:
* Pacific Surfliner: 845,856; 5 percent
* Capitol Corridor: 544,069; 7.3 percent
* Keystone Service: 443,075; 4.5 percent
* Empire Service: 337,818; 4.3 percent
* Hiawatha Service: 264,069; 5.6 percent
* Lincoln Service: 193,666; 11.7 percent
* Washington-Newport News: 168,612; 12.8 percent
* Wolverine Service: 166,595; 21 percent
* Downeaster Service: 158,053; 8.8 percent.
Down
* Cascades Service: 256,503; down 0.2 percent
The full story appears at www.sj-r.com.