(The following story by Craig Finlay appeared on the Macomb Journal website on September 16.)
MACOMB, Ill. — In the 10 months since Amtrak service on the Chicago-Quincy line was doubled, ridership at the Macomb Amtrak Station has seen a dramatic increase. On average, 150 people now pass through the Macomb station each day – an increase of over 50 percent since Oct. 2006.
For years, going to Macomb via Amtrak meant waking up early and getting to the station by 7 a.m. Coming home, there was also only one train, which arrived in Macomb at night. The additional train service includes a morning train out of Chicago and an afternoon train out of Macomb.
Aside from the luxury of not having to wake up so early before taking the train north, the extra service means more business opportunities for Macomb, according to John Vigezzi, general manager of Macomb Travel.
“Prior to the start of this train, if you were a business person in Chicago, the only way to do business in Macomb was to take the train to Macomb at 5:55 p.m., get here at 9:12 p.m., then turn around and do business the next day, and leave the following day at 7 a.m.,” Vigezzi said. “It opens up a whole new avenue for economic development.”
Now, with the same-day turnaround, Macomb is as open to Chicagoans as vice versa. According to numbers provided by the Macomb Amtrak Station, the effect of the added service was immediate. In September 2006, 9,789 riders passed through the Macomb Station. In October, that number increased to just over 10,000. In November – 14,103.
Since then, the numbers have steadily increased – ridership in June of this year was just a shade under 16,000. Just how much the local economy will benefit from the increased service has yet to be seen, according to former Macomb Mayor Tom Carper, now west central region manager for the Illinois department of commerce and economic opportunity.
“That’d be hard to assess, but what I do know is that it has provided the opportunities,” Carper said. “That’s business opportunities, for people in Chicago to work down the line, spend a day in Macomb and return that same day.”
A few Macomb businesspeople are taking advantage of the extra service, such as Cathy and Dennis Moon, who have owned the Princess Shoppe in Macomb for seven years. They purchase a lot of their inventory at StyleMax, a 4,000 vendor market held four to five times yearly in Chicago. The Moons hit the market on Saturdays, and before Amtrak added the afternoon outbound train, they had to go up on Friday morning, so as not to miss any valuable shopping time.
“Yes, it’s wonderful having that, being able to go on Friday night, so I can still work Friday at the store – Friday’s a busy day for us,” Cathy said. “Plus, it saves me from having t o get up at 5 a.m. to get ready. I’m already up there, my mind is fresher. It’s a godsend, it really is.”
While a lot of the increased ridership can be attributed to the convenience of having an extra train to choose from, Vigezzi said Amtrak also has higher gas prices to thank. If booked far enough in advance, an Amtrak ticket to Chicago is $19 one way.
“That means that if, a month from now, I wanted to go up and see a Bears game, I could do so for 38 dollars round trip, which is a lot less than the 75 dollars I’d spend just parking my car, and that’ not even counting gas,” Vigezzi said, adding that he doesn’t think the Macomb station has maxed out its growth.
It all depends, he said, on the willingness of the American public to drive less and take the train more. That’s where promotion comes into play, such as the Catch An Illinois Train campaign recently launched by Amtrak and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, which seeks to educate the public about the environmental and monetary benefits of public transport.
Chicago resident Tim Pittas was one a handful of people getting off the train Wednesday morning at the Macomb station. Mid-week is usually light; the Friday, Saturday and Sunday trains are almost always full. However, due to the large numbers of Western Illinois University students traveling back and forth. Pittas, visiting his girlfriend, was taking the train because his car was broken down, not because of gas prices, he said.
“But, you know, it’s probably cheaper to take the train than drive,” Pittas said, lighting up a Parliament and waiting for a ride. “Plus, it’s a three hour ride instead of a four hour drive.” Pittas said he paid the low fare – $38 round trip, compared to $60 or $70 worth of gas.