(The following story by Ryan Myers appeared on The Enterprise website on June 26.)
BEAUMONT, Texas — Robert Parker doesn’t like the hassle of airport security. The cost of driving from California to Beaumont wasn’t very appealing either.
“So we thought we’d try the train,” the 71-year-old said, waiting for his return train Wednesday at what passes for Beaumont’s Amtrak station.
Growing ranks of gas pump-weary travelers helped Amtrak carry more passengers nationally in May than in any month in its 37-year history. And the benchmark is encouraging to city leaders hoping to build a combination train and bus depot downtown.
Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, which runs from Jacksonville, Fla., to Los Angeles, stops in Beaumont headed westbound at 6:43 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Eastbound it stops at 8:10 a.m. Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
From October through May, ridership on the Sunset Limited has jumped 8.2 percent. National ridership has increased 10.9 percent in that period.
Passenger surveys indicate about half of the increase is attributable to fuel prices, an Amtrak spokesman said Wednesday.
In fiscal year 2007 (Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007), 1,384 passengers boarded or got off a train in Beaumont, according to the latest available figures from the rail line.
Beaumont ridership was up from 903 passengers the year before, but Hurricanes Katrina and Rita interrupted service from Aug. 8, 2005 to Nov. 4, 2005.
“It was gas prices, more than anything else, that made us give it a try,” said Classie Parker. “But I honestly don’t think I would do it again.”
For the Parkers, narrow stairwells and regular delays might have made their first Amtrak trip their last.
Their train into Beaumont arrived four hours late, the Parkers said.
In a phone call to Amtrak Wednesday night, Cassie Parker learned they would be spending some extra time at Beaumont’s rail stop – their train would be at least an hour late.
Without so much as a water fountain or an awning to hide from the rain, Beaumont’s Amtrak stop isn’t much a place to wait.
The pitted slab of concrete, hidden off 11th Street behind Central Medical Magnet High School, offers an abandoned shopping cart, downed telephone pole and chest-high grass. But no restroom.
“It was … surprising,” Cassie Parker said of laying eyes on the train stop.
In October 2007, the city of Beaumont seated a subcommittee to explore a centrally located transportation center where passengers could board a train or bus and maybe rent a car or hire a taxi.
“It’s still very preliminary, but one area we’re looking at is on College Street downtown,” Chris Boone, the city’s director of community development, said Wednesday in a phone conversation.
Before the subcommittee looks for funding options, Boone said, permission must be granted by Kansas City Southern, the rail line with track rights at the potential location.
“As of last week, talking with Amtrak, we’re still trying to get a yes or no or even a maybe out of KCS,” Boone said.
A message left Wednesday with Kansas City Southern was not immediately returned.
“It is an issue that is of great interest to us, considering the condition of the current stop in Beaumont,” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said by telephone Wednesday.
Despite increased ridership, Amtrak’s 27 million riders expected this year are dwarfed by the number of Americans who fly.
Airlines carry about 680 million domestic passengers a year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Interest in alternatives to driving is also reflected in local bus ridership, said Tom Warner, director of public works for the city of Beaumont.
Ridership increased almost 16.5 percent from April 2007, when 40,433 passengers rode city buses, to April 2008, when a total of 47,101 rode buses.