(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on January 14, 2010.)
In the first quarter of fiscal-year 2010, Amtrak set a ridership record of 7.2 million passengers, up 1.4 percent from the previous record of 7.1 million passengers set in FY2008. The first fiscal quarter covers the period from October to December 2009. Amtrak’s ridership totaled 7 million passengers in FY2009’s first quarter.
A record number of Thanksgiving travelers and strong December ridership fueled the fiscal quarter gain, according to Amtrak. In December, the railroad registered 2.39 million passengers vs. 2.28 million in December 2008 and 2.31 million in December 2007.