(The following story by Ted Jackovics appeared on The Tampa Tribune website on June 5, 2010.)
TAMPA — Amtrak ridership continued to increase in April, including on the Silver Star, which serves Tampa on its daily New York-Miami run, a company report shows.
The Silver Star carried 32,147 passengers in April, up 2.6 percent from a year ago. One-third of the train’s passengers customarily board or leave in Tampa, Amtrak has said.
Nationwide, ridership rose 7.9 percent to 2.45 million trips.
Amtrak said higher gasoline prices, increased consumer spending, a modestly improved economy and better on-time performance accounted for the gains.
The Silver Star was on time 80 percent of the time in April, compared with 60 percent in April 2009.