(The following story by Linda McAlpine appeared on the Lacrosse Tribune website on November 25.)
LACROSSE, Wisc. — Amtrak is on track for a good year locally after losing riders in 2002, but numbers for La Crosse Municipal Airport are still sluggish two years after the 9-11 events.
Dan Wruck, airport manager, said passenger numbers at the airport in 2001 dropped to 107,247, compared with 110,852 in 2000.
However, 2002 saw only a slight increase, to 107,601 passengers. And through October of this year, the number is 84,486.
“We’re hoping for a good holiday traveling season, although our strongest travel months here are June, July and August,” Wruck said.
Three major commercial airlines fly out of La Crosse Municipal Airport, with about 25 arrivals and departures a day, Wruck said.
The airport is self-sufficient when it comes to operations, maintenance and capital improvements, Wruck said.
Wruck said company layoffs and cutbacks have affected both business and leisure travel.
“When companies cut jobs and have layoffs, it has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the local economy,” he said.
Amtrak ridership, however, has been stronger this year, said Bob Kamrowski, ticket agent in La Crosse.
Amtrak makes two daily stops in La Crosse, with an eastbound and westbound train.
In October 2003, Amtrak had 1,926 passenger arrivals and departures, compared with 1,182 in October 2002, Kamrowski said. “We’re holding our own here, so we’re pleased,” he said.
Amtrak had a tough year nationally in 2002, and that hurt local ridership as well, said Bob Fisher, transportation planner with the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission in La Crosse.
“There were some very dire predictions about the economic status of Amtrak, which operates with a federal subsidy,” Fisher said. “People were hesitant to take the train for fear of not making it home.”
A combination of having a new president, new marketing strategies and a better financial picture might all have helped push ridership levels nationally and locally to the best levels seen in several years, Fisher said.
In 2000, the total arrivals and departures at the La Crosse Amtrak depot was 22,801. The number dropped a bit in 2001 to 20,230, then plunged in 2002 to 16,240.
In March 2002, the depot went from being open seven days a week to being closed on weekends, Kamrowski said. A caretaker would open the depot for passengers, but no one was available to sell tickets or take care of baggage, he said.
The depot resumed its seven days a week schedule on April 28, 2003.
“I think it’s made a difference because people like to have someone here to take care of them,” Kamrowski said.
This year could see ridership recover to the 2000 level. Through October, the La Crosse depot has seen 19,291 arrivals and departures.
For passengers boarding in La Crosse, Fisher said, Chicago is the most common eastern destination and Minneapolis and Whitefish, Mont., a popular winter skiing area, the most common destinations in the west.
Fisher said that Amtrak plans to build a station at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport sometime in 2005.
“People could take the Empire Builder from here to Milwaukee and then transfer to the Hiawatha to Chicago, which is more frequent,” he said.
Amtrak also plans to restore some of its old sleeper and dining cars and returning them to service.