(The following story by Carla Williams appeared on the Minot Daily News website on November 14.)
MINOT, N.D. — Nationally, Amtrak ridership in fiscal year 2007 increased to 25,847,531, marking the fifth consecutive year of gains and setting a record for the most passengers using Amtrak trains since the national railroad passenger corporation started operations in 1971.
This total, for the period Oct. 1, 2006 – Sept., 2007, topped the 24,306,965 for the previous 12 months and is greater than the passenger count of 25.03 million reached in 2004.
Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year, $1.5 billion, was an 11 percent increase over the previous year.
Amtrak serves North Dakota with one long-distance train, the Empire Builder (Chicago-Minneapolis/St. Paul-Seattle/Portland service via Fargo, Grand Forks, Devils Lake, Rugby, Minot, Stanley and Williston).
The original Empire Builder was inaugurated by the Great Northern Railway on June 11, 1929, and in 2007 boardings were up for Minot to 38,524; in Rugby to 6,783; in Stanley to 3,190; and in Williston to 22,648. In 2006 these communities’ boardings were: Minot, 35,829; Rugby, 5,975; Stanley, 3018; and Williston, 21,300.
According to Marc Magliari, media relations manager for Amtrak, boardings are up for these North Dakota communities because of the difficulty to travel during the winter by air and it also being limited and expensive. So, the train is another alternative mode transportation being both affordable and comfortable.
Magliari said some of those who traveled on the Empire Builder included skiers who took ski trips to Montana, year-round family travelers, college students going home and medical referrals to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
“The Empire Builder remains the most popular overnight train,” Magliari said of other trains in the country.
Magliari feels Amtrak will have a very strong ridership with the upcoming holidays, and their busiest day is the day before Thanksgiving.
“People want to be there for Thanksgiving Day,” Magliari said. “I have every reason to believe we will set records with gasoline prices oscillating.”
Magliari views the Empire Builder as essential to the northern tier states, and it continues to receive strong support from all levels of government to continue its service.
“People drive hundreds of miles from both sides of the border (United States and Canada) to routinely catch the train in Minot and Williston and travel from there,” Magliari said.
John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce, said having Amtrak in Minot is important to a number of businesses, including funeral homes and florists to help families save on costs for out-of-state funeral arrangements and cut down on transportation costs for florists.
“Using Amtrak touches more parts of our lives than we realize,” MacMartin said.
MacMartin said Amtrak also provides a more environment-friendly mode of transportation.
“Amtrak is a form of mass transportation, which prevents 40,000 individuals driving out of Minot,” MacMartin said. “In the long run, it’s more energy efficient.”
MacMartin said if Minot were to lose Amtrak service, the city would lose access points to the outside world, which is key to this region.
“Take the transportation option away, more people tend to flock to larger communities where they don’t want to live,” MacMartin said. “By providing transportation links to the outside world, you provide one of the elements that makes Minot a place people want to live.”
Don Sobolik, executive director for the Rugby Chamber of Commerce, said many citizens who are older and don’t have access to any other means of transportation to an airport, catch the Empire Builder in Rugby.
“Amtrak is favorable and wonderful to have in Rugby,” Sobolik said.
Sobolik also said lack of travel competition in North Dakota makes Amtrak appealing.
“The rates are reasonable, (the station) being in Rugby is convenient and they have improved services with an on-time schedule being very good – all of these things put together make Amtrak a good option with higher gas prices,” Sobolik said.
Sobolik said if Amtrak ever considered ending service to Rugby, the community would put up a big fight.
“There would be a lot of letter writers, with the community coming together,” Sobolik said.
Sobolik also said Amtrak has been good about giving back to the community of Rugby by donating travel holiday packages to the Rugby Chamber.
“(The packages) are a nice addition for promotion while at the same time giving Amtrak exposure,” Sobolik said.
Tom Rolfstad, director of the Williston Area Development Foundation, said even though airline services to Denver from Williston is sufficient, it seems to be lacking to the east.
“Amtrak is an alternative to air service with us (Williston) being in a remote location,” Rolfstad said. “Also, with the price of gas, more people use Amtrak.”
Rolfstad said he has seen quite a range of people in Williston catch the Empire Builder, including oil field commuters who stay on the job for 21 days and take 10 days off to go home, and university students coming home.
“You tend not to see the business crowd as much as family and friends (riding Amtrak),” Rolfstad said. “We’re also a big regional draw with people coming from Rapid City to get on Amtrak.”
Rolfstad said holiday travel is very big, and families can be seen traveling together more by train than airplanes to keep expenses down.
“The rail seems to become more and more the solution than less and less the solution,” Rolfstad said.
With Amtrak playing a big role in Williston, Rolfstad said the community will work on a park project next spring to beef up the area around the Amtrak depot and to continue to show its support.
Cori Otto-Lindsay, community development director for the city of Stanley, said the Amtrak station is an integral part of the community’s services and is a tool utilized by many residents, as well as a regional resource.
“Many people use the Amtrak to regularly access specialty doctors in Rochester (Minn). and Chicago. This access in many cases would not be possible any other way, especially given the huge increases in gasoline prices over the last few years,” Otto-Lindsay said. “Stanley is uniquely positioned at the crossroads of Highway 2 and 8, and many people utilize our depot as an access point to other locations across the country.”
Otto-Lindsay said in cooperation with Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Amtrak, the community recently painted the fencing, planted several flower pots, and assembled benches to help make the stop at the depot in Stanley more inviting to the many visitors that use the stop daily.
“We are proud of our depot and will continue to work on improvements to the facilities over the next few years,” Otto-Lindsay said.