Train Politics: Amtrak Ridership Up

Amtrak is hustling to get the word out, perhaps because it sees President Romney down the tracks. Look at some of the numbers for passenger rail:

– Northeast Corridor (NEC) The NEC between Washington and Boston had a 4.8 percent increase in ridership to its best year ever with more than 11.4 million passengers. Specifically, ridership on the Northeast Regional service is up 6.6 percent to a new record of more than 8.0 million and the high-speed Acela Express is up 0.5 percent to its second-best year ever to nearly 3.4 million.

– Northeast Ridership on the Keystone Service (New York – Harrisburg) is up 5.8 percent to a new record of more than 1.4 million. Other ridership record setting routes include: Downeaster (Boston – Portland) up 4.3 percent to more than 541,000; Adirondack (New York – Montreal) up 5.3 percent to nearly 132,000; and Ethan Allen (New York – Rutland, Vt.) up 10 percent to more than 54,000. Routes with notable percentage growth increases include Vermonter (Washington – St. Albans, Vt.) up 5.5 percent to more than 82,000, Empire Service (New York – Albany) up 3.8 percent to more than 1.06 million and Pennsylvanian (New York – Pittsburgh) up 2.2 percent to more than 212,000.