(The following story by Jake Henshaw appeared on the Visalia Times-Delta website on November 11.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly one million passengers rode the San Joaquin train in the last year, one of three Amtrak-operated lines in the state that set ridership records in 2007-08.
Together, the three state-supported, intercity lines carried 5.5 million passengers in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30.
Six years of increases
Nationally, Amtrak ridership increased to 28,716,407, marking the sixth year of increases and the most since the national passenger rail system began operating in 1971.
“This demonstrates the potential of intercity passenger rail,” William Crosbie, Amtrak’s chief operations officer, said at a press conference at the Sacramento train station.
The state pays Amtrak $80 million a year to operate the three lines, subsidizing 48 percent of the price of a ticket.
Valley line sixth-most-traveled
The 949,611 passengers who took the San Joaquin, which operates between Bakersfield and Sacramento and Oakland, made it the sixth most traveled line in the nation.
Ridership on the San Joaquin was 756,000 in 2004-05, 800,000 in 2005-06 and 805,000 in 2006-07, according to the state Department of Transportation.
To meet the growing rail demand, California is getting additional cars from passenger services in other parts of the country, while preparing to spend bond funds on new equipment.
The state rail operation received $400 million from a 2006 transportation bond, including $125 million for rail cars, and another $950 million from the high-speed rail bond that passed last week.
The $950 million includes $190 million to be divided among the three intercity routes for a wide range of needs that could include double tracking, sidings and double tracking with the freight lines that Amtrak shares.
Each line would get a minimum of $47.5 million with the remaining money allocated based on priority.