(Bloomberg News circulated the following on August 11, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak ridership dropped for the ninth straight month in July as the recession continued to pare business travel, the national passenger railroad said Monday.
The total number of passengers fell 8.4 percent to 2.5 million from a year earlier, according to Amtrak. Ridership on short-distance routes dropped 9.6 percent. Long-distance ridership retreated in July for the third straight month, dropping 4.9 percent.
Amtrak’s ridership set passenger records in each of the past six fiscal years. Monthly passenger loads began to decline in November as gasoline prices retreated from a record high and the financial crisis deepened.
Passenger loads on Northeast Corridor trains between Boston and Washington fell 6.5 percent in July, while ridership on high-speed Acela Express trains on that route dropped 12 percent.