(The following report appeared on the Central Valley Business Times website on January 17.)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Amtrak passenger train service through the Central Valley saw a ridership spurt in the final quarter of 2007, according to figures from the California Department of Transportation, which subsidizes the service.
Quarterly ridership gains for the San Joaquin train service, which runs between Bakersfield and the Bay area, was up 7.1 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.
The Amtrak San Joaquins posted monthly increases of 13.1 percent and 11.3 percent in November and December respectively.
Overall, ridership on state-supported Amtrak California trains during the final quarter of 2007 saw an increase of 7.7 percent for a total of 1,266,751 passengers using the intercity trains, compared to 1,183,150 during the same three-month period in 2006.
“We have been aggressively marketing the state supported train service, and it’s really paying off,” says Caltrans Director Will Kempton. “The payoff also includes reduced vehicle fuel emissions and fewer motor vehicles on our congested highways.”
Quarterly ridership gains for Capitol Corridor trains were 11.5 percent and 4.6 percent for Pacific Surfliner trains.
Ridership on the three state-supported routes during Amtrak’s 2007 Fiscal Year was 4.9 million passengers – a record for the three state routes.
California’s three intercity passenger rail lines are the second (Pacific Surfliner), third (Capitol Corridor) and sixth (San Joaquins) busiest in the nation.
For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2007, each of the three train routes set monthly ridership records, Caltrans says. Capitol Corridor set records in each of the first six months with a gain of 13.4 percent over the same six-month period in 2006; San Joaquins set records in five months for an increase of 7.3 percent; and, the Pacific Surfliner set records in five of the first six months finishing with a 3.7 percent ridership increase.
California taxpayers support train service between the Bay Area and Sacramento on the Capitol Corridor, between Oakland or Sacramento and Bakersfield on the San Joaquins, and between San Diego and San Luis Obispo (via Los Angeles and Santa Barbara) on the Pacific Surfliner.