(The following story by Ted Jackovics appeared on the Tampa Tribune website on March 11, 2009.)
TAMPA, Fla. — Ridership continues to grow on Amtrak’s Silver Star serving Tampa on its New York-Miami route, bucking nationwide projections of lower ridership because of the recession and a decline in gasoline prices.
The Silver Star increased ridership by 4 percent in December to 32,894 passengers from all of its stops, an Amtrak report states. Details of Tampa travel were not available, but anecdotal accounts indicate local ridership has grown in recent months.
Results in January were even better, with Silver Star ridership up 18 percent compared with January 2008, according to data obtained by the National Association of Railroad Passengers in Washington.
Ridership on overnight trains as a group is up, and part of the explanation is that Amtrak’s on-time performance has improved, NARP President Ross Capon said.
Capon also said people don’t think gasoline prices will remain low and are looking at the total cost of driving.
“They don’t want to replace their car as early as they might have in the past, so they are looking at train travel as an alternative when possible,” Capon said.
Florida is not as well-positioned as some other states to obtain federal stimulus money for Amtrak. States with well-developed rail programs stand a better chance, Capon said.
Amtrak finished fiscal 2008 on Sept. 30 with an 11.1 percent increase in ridership, a record of 28.7 million passengers.
Long-distance ridership nationwide grew 6.8 percent through December, with the Silver Star up 9.3 percent. Short-distance travel grew 4.2 percent, and Northeast Corridor travel declined 7.6 percent.