(The following appeared on the Washington Post website on October 11, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A rebound in business travel, along with high gasoline prices, helped Amtrak report record ridership for fiscal 2010, just completed.
The passenger railroad carried 28.7 million riders for the year, 5.7 percent more than a year earlier, it said Monday in a statement.
Traffic in the Northeast Corridor – between Boston and Washington – increased 4.3 percent and accounted for more than a third of all Amtrak passengers, the railroad reported.
Ridership on the Acela, Amtrak’s fastest train and the service most geared for business travel, was up more than 6.5 percent.
It also saw increases of 6.5 percent or better on long-distance and state-supported routes.
Amtrak cited the combination of persistently high fuel prices, wireless access on Acela Express trains, an improved economy in the Northeast and dissatisfaction with air service as factors behind the growth.
The rail line said it is working with states to expand service and establish new routes. It is also buying new rail cars and taking other steps to improve its aging infrastructure, especially in the Northeast.
Amtrak collected a record $1.74 billion from ticket sales in the year that ended Sept. 30, up 9 percent from $1.6 billion in 2009, according to the statement, which didn’t include figures on net financial performance. Northeast Corridor ticket revenue was $899.1 million, or 52 percent of the total, the statement said.
In fiscal 2009, Amtrak reported a $1.26 billion net loss, on revenue of $2.35 billion and expenses of $3.5 billion, according to Amtrak’s annual report. The rail carrier received a $1.49 billion federal subsidy for the year.