(Source: Amtrak press release (PDF), November 30, 2011)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The preliminary numbers are in, and with an estimated 720,000 passengers, Amtrak set a new ridership record for the Thanksgiving holiday travel week.
“While retailers are reporting sales are up at stores and on the Internet, travel on Amtrak also exceeded expectations due, in part, to increased capacity and the recent introduction of free Wi-Fi service on several Amtrak routes,” said Amtrak Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Emmett Fremaux.
Comparing Thanksgiving 2011 to Thanksgiving 2010, there was an estimated 2.2 percent increase in ridership nationwide. The previous Thanksgiving ridership record was set in 2010 with 704,446 passengers. This year’s Thanksgiving holiday travel week extended from Nov. 22 through Nov. 28.
In preparation for the anticipated heavy passenger volume, Amtrak operated every available passenger rail car in its fleet and scheduled extra trains to accommodate additional passengers in the Northeast and on the West Coast. The Amtrak equipment fleet was slightly larger this year due to rehabilitated and refurbished railcars and locomotive engines that were recently restored to service.
Final ridership numbers will be available in early December.