(The following story by Jonah Owen Lamb appeared on the Merced Sun website on November 29.)
MERCED, Calif. — A large crowd huddled below the awning outside Merced’s Amtrak Station on Wednesday morning waiting for the train north.
This crowd and the people in the waiting room are part of the holiday rush that inundates the nation’s transportation system year in and year out. From planes to trains to automobiles, this time of year is filled with people traveling to see their families.
But this year trains in particular have seen a big jump in travelers, especially on Amtrak California’s San Joaquin line. For whatever reason — gas prices, the economy or both — more people are getting on trains this year than before.
Amtrak, which carried 650,000 passengers systemwide on this weekend last year, expects this Thanksgiving holiday’s passenger numbers to rise 14 percent in California alone from last year’s more than 30,000 riders.
In Merced that increase means about a 30 percent jump in ridership. On average, about 700 people are coming and going from the station daily, but on Wednesday that number was up to around 1,000.
The increase in holiday travel is so pronounced that Amtrak California, which runs the San Joaquin line, will add six cars to its services through Sunday.
In the Amtrak waiting room, Sylvester Williamson Sr., 56, sat with his son as they waited for a train to Long Beach. He said that while gas prices have gone down since their recent highs, trains are still a good way to get around. “The train has less stops (than the bus) and it will get you there quicker,” he said.
Nearby sat Kai Van Dusen, 18, a computer science major at UC Merced. Until this year he had never ridden in a train in his life. Now whenever he goes home he takes the train.
“It’s a lot more laid back than going through the airport,” he said.
All aboard!