(United Press International circulated the following on May 16.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of Amtrak riders reached 14.3 million, a 5 percent increase over the same period a year earlier, the quasi-government U.S. rail corporation said.
The biggest growth between October and March was in Amtrak`s short-distance routes outside the U.S. Northeast, with more than 12.3 million passengers traveling, Amtrak said.
Amtrak`s Northeast Corridor — connecting Washington, New York and Boston — continued to be the railroad`s busiest route, with 5.7 million passengers traveling during the first seven months of Amtrak`s fiscal year.
This was an increase from 5.4 million passengers during the same period a year earlier, the railroad said.
The second most popular route was the Pacific Surfliner (San Diego, Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, Calif.), with 1.46 million passengers — an increase from 1.44 million last year.
California`s Capitol Corridor (San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and Auburn) held third place, with 815,000 passengers, up from 724,000 last year.
Rounding out the top five routes were the Empire Corridor (New York, Albany, N.Y., and Toronto) with 705,000 passengers, up from 680,000, and the Keystone Corridor (New York, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa.), with 553,000 passengers, up from 472,000.