(The following article was posted on the San Diego Union Tribune website on January 27.)
LOS ANGELES – More than 312,000 people took the train between San Diego and Los Angeles last year, up 6 percent over 2004, Amtrak officials said today.
The Pacific Surfliner provides 12 daily roundtrips between San Diego and Los Angeles, with five extending to Santa Barbara and two to San Luis Obispo.
Last year, the Surfliner carried a total of 2.5 million passengers – up 4.6 percent from 2004.
Statewide, ridership on Amtrak’s three state-supported routes – including the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquins as well as Surfliner – increased 4.9 percent to a record 4.6 million passengers last year.
Amtrak officials attributed the increase to a strong economy, rising gasoline prices and continued growth in the San Joaquin Valley.
The Capitol Corridor line provides service between Sacramento and the Bay Area. Last year, 1.3 million passengers rode that train.
The San Joaquins, which provides four daily roundtrips from Bakersfield to Oakland, and two daily roundtrips between Bakersfield and Sacramento, carried 771,409 passengers last year.