(The following article by Sheila J. Robinson was posted on the Daily Ardmoreite website on November 19.)
ARDMORE, Okla. — Oklahoma’s Heartland Flyer passenger train finished the fiscal year strong with ridership for August and September up more than 37 percent compared to fiscal year 2002. Amtrak reported its highest year in 32 years nationwide with more than 24 million passengers for 2003.
“We’ve started the new fiscal year off with a bang,” Heartland Flyer Coalition Chairwoman Judi Elmore said Thursday. “Ridership for October was up an astonishing 51.3 percent over October 2002. Revenue for the same period was up 49.9 percent.”
She attributes the increases to the hard work of the coalition and increased media attention for special events such as monthly wine tastings, Halloween train, OU/Texas train and other events. Elmore says there is an increased emphasis on the fact rail is a viable alternative method of transportation.
“With the increase in speed to 79 mph, the Heartland Flyer can now travel to Fort Worth (Texas) in about the same time as you can travel by car, no hassle with traffic, no waiting for construction, no road rage,” she said.
Amtrak’s ridership topped the previous record of 23.5 million passengers set in 2001 and was 2.7 percent better than last year’s result of 23.4 million. Long-distance trains showed substantial improvement over 2002, with those in the Eastern region of the country improving ridership by 3.8 percent and those in Western region improving by 6.6 percent.
The Pennsylvanian showed the most the most substantial increase, followed by the Texas Eagle, up 20 percent; the Silver Meteor, up 15.2 percent and the City of New Orleans, up 14.5 percent.
Coming events on the Heartland Flyer include the last wine tasting for the year on Dec. 6, the annual Santa train Dec. 13 and a Mardi Gras celebration on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a Dixieland Band, hurricanes, beads and other festivities.
Amtrak serves more than 500 communities in 46 states across a 22,000-mile route system. Schedules, fares and reservations can be found on Amtrak’s Web site at www.amtrak.com.
Reservations for the Heartland Flyer, which runs a 418-mile daily round trip between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, and other Amtrak services can be made by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL.