(The following story by Ted Jackovics appeared on the Tampa Tribune website on June 23, 2009.)
TAMPA, Fla. — Amtrak’s Silver Star, which serves Tampa on its daily northbound and southbound runs between New York and Miami, continued to gain ridership in April despite a nationwide decline in Amtrak ridership.
Amtrak has been hurt by the recession, unemployment, reductions in business travel and low gas prices.
But increased on-time performance of long-distance trains such as the Silver Star continued to offset the negative impacts of the economy, Amtrak said in its April report.
Silver Star ridership increased 5.8 percent in April, up to 31,343, compared with a year ago.
Tampa ridership numbers were not immediately available, but previous reports show about one in three Silver Star riders board or disembark at Tampa’s Union Station.
Amtrak ridership nationwide declined 2 percent in April, down to 2.27 million trips, compared with a year ago.