(The following story by Kate Kliner appeared on the Williston Herald website on November 4.)
WILLISTON, N.D. — Williston seems to be mirroring a national trend that is on the rise: Riding the train. People are turning to the train as a means of transportation as costs associated with driving and other transportation go up.
Amtrak representative Marc Magliari agreed North Dakota is no exception to this trend.
“I can tell you nationally why ridership is going up,” he said, as local Amtrak representatives are not authorized to speak to the media.
“We’ve had six straight years of ridership increases and an especially steep increase in the past year and we, in talking to our passengers, are told that it’s largely due to the higher prices people are having to pay to drive their own cars and trucks. And to avoid the higher cost of driving your own car or truck, more and more people are turning to Amtrak where it’s a great option,” said Magliari.
He said this cost to consumers includes gas and diesel, depending on what they need for their specific vehicle. “The Empire Builder for many years has been our most popular overnight train,” he said.
Magliari said ridership last year in Williston was 23,619, which is up from 21,300 in 2006.
Other areas of the state are seeing the same trend as well, since Minot saw an increase of 6,972 passengers from 2006 to 2007 and Stanley increased 946 passengers over the same period of time