(The following story by Ken Stanford appeared on the Access North Georgia website on March 10.)
ATLANTA — New figures show more than 162,000 passengers were served by Amtrak in Georgia last year, with the Gainesville station recording one of the largest increases in the state.
According to the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers (GARP), the increase in ridership in Georgia was up 3 percent in 2007 compared to the year before.
While every Georgia Amtrak station enjoyed increased patronage, Gainesville’s performance was “especially noteworthy,” GARP said.
Gainesville’s 2007 passenger count was 5,261 passengers – up nearly 1,000 from 2006’s total of 4,269.
Atlanta, as usual, was Georgia’s busiest Amtrak station, serving 97,594 passengers – up from 96,891 the previous year.
It was followed by Savannah, with 48,556 passengers in 2007 vs. 45,965 in 2006.
Jesup was third with 7,937 passengers, up from 7,232.
Toccoa served 2,899 passengers in 2007, up from 2,672 in 2006.
Amtrak said it spent $31,545,348 for goods and services in Georgia in fiscal 2007, and it paid $2,930,382 in wages to Georgia residents.
A total of 55 Georgians were working for Amtrak when the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.