Riders hop Amtrak, dodge gas prices

by John Detrixhe
July 15, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Julie Jacob was boarding an Amtrak train bound from Milwaukee to Chicago when she realized the last seat had been taken.

The last seat wasn’t an actual seat, however. Those were long gone. Even the luggage racks had been taken over by commuters.

“There was a man in a tie, sitting on the closed toilet seat and he was reading a newspaper. His briefcase was on the floor beside him,” said Jacob, who was left standing.

Increasingly crowded Amtrak trains are just part of the trip for Jacob and many other commuters, business travelers and vacationers.

Amtrak attributes about half of its overall ridership surge to record gas prices, according to spokeswoman Tracy Connell. The subsidized train system credits the rest of the increase to people looking for alternative modes of transportation, avoiding highway congestion and airport hassles.

Regular unleaded gasoline averaged a record $4.109-a-gallon nationwide on Tuesday, according to AAA. Meanwhile, Americans have driven almost 20 billion fewer miles as of April compared with a year earlier, according to the Department of Transportation.

Jacob’s commute on the Hiawatha line had one of the biggest jumps in June, spiking 40 percent compared with a year earlier. The East Coast’s Downeaster line, running from Boston to Portland, Maine, had a nearly 45 percent jump.

Overall Amtrak ridership in June was up 12 percent compared to the year before, as nearly every short-distance route had a ridership increase. Amtrak set a record last year with 25.8 million passengers and expects to set another high this year.

Jim Beitel and his family of three were among those looking for a cheaper way to travel during their vacation from Ashtabula, Ohio to Miami.

“It was a third the price of a flight, $680 as opposed to over a thousand,” Beitel said.

A “complete green vacation” was Kerrin Gerson’s inspiration to ride Amtrak to Washington D.C. from Nashville.

Amtrak is 18 percent more efficient than commercial airlines on a passenger-mile basis, according to the Department of Energy. Amtrak says its electrical propulsion and diesel fuel combination are less susceptible to swings in crude prices than jet fuel.

The use of rail for freight has also risen due to the demand for cheaper, more energy efficient transportation. Rail freight for the week ended July 5 was up 1.1 percent compared with a week earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Overall freight volumes have fallen due to a slowing economy, said Lee A. Klaskow, an analyst with Longbow Research in Independence, Ohio. However, Klaskow said rail freight, being more energy efficient, is holding up better than trucking.

“Trucks are three-to-four times more fuel intensive than trains,” Klaskow said.

Capitol Hill has also taken notice of the demand for Amtrak service. On Monday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant agreed on the need to deal with the shortage of passenger rail cars in Illinois and around the country, according to a statement.

“As gas prices continue to rise, the demand for an efficient, cost-effective and reliable alternative has skyrocketed,” Durbin said in a news release.

Last week the Senate approved a record $1.55 billion in funding for Amtrak, compared with $1.4 billion for the 2008 fiscal year. The Senate also approved $100 million for states to improve intercity service and to maintain existing rail corridors.

It remained unclear if any additional rail cars would be made available, and where those cars would be deployed, according to Durbin’s spokeswoman Christina Mulka. The increase in funding still must be approved by the full Senate and House and is far from certain.

Riders hop Amtrak, dodge gas prices

by John DetrixheJuly 15, 2008

by John Detrixhe
July 15, 2008