(The following story by Tim Landis appeared on The State Journal-Register website on January 17, 2009.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Amtrak ridership is off to another record-setting start in the first three months of the federal fiscal year in Illinois after topping 1 million passengers for the first time in the fiscal year ended last fall.
Numbers released Friday showed passengers on the three Illinois routes were up 7 percent November-through-December compared to last year’s record, and despite a recession and falling gasoline prices.
Spokesman Marc Magliari said growth is expected to slow in 2009 as a result of the economy.
But he said the bigger long-term problem is a lack of capacity, even after the economy recovers.
“The trains just can’t get more full. We knew sustaining that double-digit increase each year would be difficult, even if we added more trains and more capacity, which we didn’t do, and we can’t do,” Magliari said.
“Even if we were able to order more cars, it would take at least three years to take delivery. There is no domestic production line for inter-city rail cars.”
Springfield resident Monica Jenot was typical in her response to an online request from The State Journal-Register for reader stories on good and bad Amtrak experiences. Jenot said she loves taking the train but avoids certain routes.
“I recommend never, ever take the Texas Eagle train No. 22. A couple of years ago, my co-workers and I took that train. It is supposed to be in Springfield at 10:30 a.m. but did not arrive until 1:30 p.m. Not only is this train always late, but it is very smelly and dirty,” Jenot said.
She said she still prefers the train to driving to Chicago.
“I plan to take the train to Chicago in March, and, believe it or not, I am truly looking forward to it,” Jenot said.
Ramona Boston of East Alton said she is forced to drive a 190-mile round trip daily to a state-trainee job in Springfield because of the inconvenience of the Amtrak schedule.
“I used to love train travel and still love the idea of what train travel can be, plus I used to take the St. Louis Metro to work, on time, every time, running every eight minutes. I’m telling you this because I really, really believe public transportation is part of the answer to our energy crisis,” Boston said.
Even after a couple of “bad” experiences, Jacksonville resident Shawn Artis said he would take the train over driving anytime, especially to Chicago. Artis said he is even planning a cross-country trip by train.
“I know it may take longer on the train, due to freight delays, and it may be faster to drive my car, but with the train you do not have to deal with Chicago street traffic, no worries about parking, plus it’s more relaxing watching the countryside pass through the windows,” Artis said.
Some help could be on the way in an economic stimulus package introduced by congressional Democrats this week. The legislation includes about $1.1 billion to improve capacity and on-time performance on Amtrak.
The National Association of Rail Passengers had lobbied for at least $5 billion, including for projects such as a high-speed rail line between St. Louis and Chicago, vice president David Johnson said Friday.
“Unfortunately, they’re taking the approach that the only way to stimulate the economy is to build roads and bridges. You can also stimulate the economy by building rails and mass transit, and properly preparing ourselves for the next spike in oil prices, which is going to happen,” Johnson said.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he planned to reintroduce a bill this year that would provide funding for foreign rail-car manufacturers that open U.S. plants and tax breaks to domestic companies to get into rail-car production.