(The following story by Jo Lee Ferguson appeared on the Longview News-Journal website on December 11.)
LONGVIEW, Texas — More people rode Amtrak trains last month than any other November during the company’s 32-year-history, with the Texas Eagle route seeing a double-digit increase in ridership compared with November 2002.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said ridership on Amtrak’s long-distance trains was up 32.8 percent between November of this year and November 2002. That figure includes a 45.1 percent increase in ridership on the Texas Eagle, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles and includes Longview. That equals 19,064 riders in November of this year versus 13,135 riders in November 2002.
“The Texas Eagle is a catalyst to Amtrak’s record-breaking numbers,” said J.G. Hubbard, Amtrak station agent in Longview.
Ridership on all of Amtrak’s short-distance trains was up 5.9 percent between November this year and a year ago, Magliari said.
“Overall, Amtrak (ridership) was up an average of 9.3 percent,” Magliari said. That means there were 2,076,054 Amtrak riders last month compared with 1,858,345 riders in November a year ago.
“November set an all-time record for Novembers for Amtrak ridership since the company started operations back in 1971,” Magliari said.
Hubbard said the Texas Eagle is fortunate in that the growing ridership compared with a year ago is an ongoing trend. Of the 16 long-distance trains, which spend at least one night on the railroad, Hubbard said the Texas Eagle posted the sixth-best ridership gain in November compared with a year ago. It also saw the fourth-best revenue increase during that time, with a 26.8 percent increase compared with November 2002, he said.
“The trend has been in that upward double-digit direction for approximately six months,” Hubbard said.
Several factors have contributed to the national Amtrak and Texas Eagle trends, Magliari said.
“We can’t ignore the fact that the economy itself is improving,” he said. “The retailers, I think, will tell you this Christmas is doing better than the previous Christmas. Certainly, we’ve had some improvement in the economy.”
Amtrak also has changed its marketing strategy in the past several months, he said. For the past several years, Amtrak focused on national advertising that promoted the overall experience of riding a train. That changed several months ago, with the company focusing more on telling people where the trains go and what the fares are, Magliari said.
Another factor, though, had contributed to the increased ridership on the Texas Eagle. Hubbard and two other people in Texas and Arkansas conduct revenue management on a local basis, Hubbard said. They continually monitor demand and whether prices should be lowered or raised. The Texas Eagle is the only Amtrak train with local revenue management.
One of the reasons that is so successful, Hubbard said, is because of the length and diversity of the Texas Eagle route. One area on the route could be in recession while another area on the route is in economic recovery, he said.
“You have to revenue manage the train based on the economy of passengers,” in each area, Hubbard said.
Other factors are contributing to the Texas Eagle increase as well. Magliari praised Amtrak and Union Pacific railroad employees for improving the on-time performance of the Texas Eagle. Most of the Texas Eagle route operates on Union Pacific track.
“They’ve been doing a better job of handling our train,” Magliari said. “An on-time train is better able to attract customers than a train that is not on time.”
Hubbard agreed, saying local revenue management and on-time performance provides unlimited opportunities.
“In the last 12 months, the Texas Eagle on-time performance has improved 100 percent,” he said.
The Texas Eagle also has “great local support” through the Texas Eagle Marketing and Promotion Organization, a group of Amtrak supporters, Magliari said.
All of those factors combined to drive up ridership “pretty dramatically” on the Texas Eagle, he said.