(The following story by John R. Pulliam appeared on The Register-Mail website on January 21, 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, despite a recession and falling gasoline prices.
The increase is even more impressive on the Chicago-Galesburg-Quincy routes — the Illinois Zephyr and the Carl Sandburg. Spokesman Marc Magliari said first quarter ridership on those state-subsidized routes was 62,984, up 10 percent compared to the same time in FY 2008. The ridership for individual stations is not yet available. Ridership in Galesburg for FY 2008 for all Amtrak trains was 98,419, an increase of 11,419, or more than 13 percent from the FY 2007 figure of 87,000.
The Chicago-Springfield routes had 144,238 passengers in the first quarter of 2009, up 8 percent, while the Chicago-Champaign-Carbondale routes had 80,040 riders, an increase of 4 percent for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Magliari said growth is expected to slow in 2009 as a result of the economy. He said he’s pleased with the first quarter figures, in light of “the state of the economy and the whole economic picture.”
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.
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.
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.