(The following article by Jim Dalgleish was posted on the St. Joseph (Mich.) Herald Palladium website on October 3.)
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — Amtrak’s Chicago-to-Grand Rapids passenger train is gaining riders at an impressive clip, the railway reported, but the reasons why are less certain.
The state of Michigan and an amalgam of business and government leaders along the route have been spending about $100,000 a year to market the service, which makes two stops a day, seven days a week in New Buffalo, St. Joseph and Bangor.
The Westrain Collaborative marketing effort is about the only thing the Pere Marquette route has that others don’t, said Pat Moody, the Twin Cities’ Westrain representative.
“It’s not really possible (to say it’s Westrain) except for the fact the Pere Marquette is the only one in the state that’s going up (in ridership). And we’re surviving and thriving,” said Moody, vice president of investor and community relations for Cornerstone Alliance, the Twin Cities’ economic development agency.
Amtrak last week reported that more than 8,000 passengers rode the train in August, a 27 percent boost from August 2002. The Pere Marquette also posted solid gains for the first 11 months of the fiscal year that ended Tuesday. The 11-month total is 69,115, a 22 percent increase from the 56,604 during the same period in 2001-2002.
Amtrak operates the Pere Marquette under contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. Tim Hoeffner, MDOT’s manager for rail passenger services, said Westrain was one factor for the rise. Another was soaring automobile fuel prices in late summer.
“Part of it has to do with more people realizing the value, the comfort and convenience of the service,” Hoeffner said.
“It’s going to level off at some point. We just don’t know when that is. There are some cycles to this stuff that just escape me. I gave up a long time ago on trying to guess what ridership is going to be.”
Don Saunders, general superintendent of the Chicago-based Amtrak Central Division, said in a press release that the national passenger railway is getting good cooperation from CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.
The cooperation is critical in helping the passenger train stay on time.
The two freight railways own the tracks over which the Pere Marquette operates.
Under the contract, freight trains are to be held in sidings while the Pere Marquette zooms on by.
“The freight railroad managers stress Amtrak on-time performance for this train,” Saunders said.
Amtrak and MDOT also have made several improvements to stations along the route and have worked closely with Westrain and other community organizations.
Moody said he understands that Westrain is the only such marketing collaborative in the nation, and many Amtrak communities across the nation see it as a model.