Michigan Ridership Up Strongly

[intocable83]

National Railroad Passenger Corporation
60 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002
www.amtrak.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATK-07-124

Contacts:
Marc Magliari, Amtrak (312) 880-5390
Janet Foran, Michigan DOT (517) 335-7176
October 31, 2007
Michigan Ridership Up Strongly

National Amtrak Ridership Tops 25.8 Million, Fifth Straight Year of Increases

CHICAGO and LANSING, Michigan – Amtrak ridership in Fiscal Year 2007 on trains in Michigan increased by more than 17,000 passengers, totaling nearly 682,000 riders on the three routes in the Great Lakes State. In all, Amtrak sold more than 750,000 tickets to and from locations in Michigan (see chart below).

Amtrak operates three daily roundtrips on the Pontiac-Detroit-Ann Arbor-Chicago route known as the Wolverine Service. The 2.4 percent ridership gain on the Wolverines matches the national Amtrak ridership increase and is the result of more than 449,000 passengers choosing rails instead of roads.

The state-supported single-frequency daily routes in Michigan — Grand Rapids-St. Joseph-Chicago Pere Marquette and the Port Huron-East Lansing-Chicago Blue Water — also posted increases. Ridership on the Pere Marquette was up 2.8 percent to nearly 105,000 passengers and on the Blue Water passenger count of almost 128,000 was a 3.1 percent gain. Amtrak operates the Pere Marquette and the Blue Water under a contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

“We are excited about increased interest in passenger rail travel," said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. "Michigan reflects the national trend. Our ridership numbers have increased for the last five years, showing strong support for all three Amtrak routes in Michigan."

“Highway and airway congestion, volatile fuel prices, increasing environmental awareness, and a need for transportation links between growing communities, are some of the factors that make intercity passenger rail extremely relevant in today’s world,” said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak.

“Our record setting ridership and ticket revenue in FY07 indicate the stage is set for Amtrak to take on a role as not only a contributor to the nation’s transportation network, but as a leader among modes,” he added.

Nationally, Amtrak ridership in Fiscal Year 2007 increased to 25,847,531, marking the fifth straight year of gains and setting a record for the most passengers using Amtrak trains since the National Railroad Passenger Corporation started operations in 1971.

This total, for the period October 1, 2006 – September 30, 2007, topped the 24,306,965 for the previous 12 months and is greater than the passenger count of 25.03 million reached in 2004.

Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year, $1.5 billion, was an 11 percent increase over the $1.37 billion in FY06.

About MDOT

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is responsible for nearly 10,000 miles of state highways that carry 54 percent of all motor traffic and 70 percent of truck traffic. The department also is responsible for providing aviation services, freight and passenger rail services, public transit, marine and non-motorized transportation for Michigan residents, businesses, and visitors. More information about MDOT can be found at www.michigan.gov/mdot.

About Amtrak

Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 22,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit www.amtrak.com.

Total Amtrak Tickets Sold to and from Each Michigan Station Stop
Albion, MI 1,490
Ann Arbor, MI 144,114
Bangor, MI 3,786
Birmingham, MI 19,404
Battle Creek, MI 53,197
Dearborn, MI 72,158
Detroit, MI 56,548
Dowagiac, MI 2,579
Durand, MI 8,361
Flint, MI 23,718
Grand Rapids, MI 53,260
Holland, MI 38,457
Jackson, MI 27,135
Kalamazoo, MI 107,251
East Lansing, MI 48,518
Lapeer, MI 6,695
New Buffalo, MI 2,476
Niles, MI 18,061
Pontiac, MI 16,450
Port Huron, MI 12,544
Royal Oak, MI 25,556
St. Joseph, MI 8,445

[Craig]

This despite the fact that service is fair at best. Having ridden the Wolverine from AA to Chicago several times in the last few months, it was more then an hour late each ride there and back. Side note, a buddy just tried to get tickets for Chicago over Thanksgiving. No luck the train is full. Why not add more cars???

[thomas]

the reason they can't add cars is, have you been down to beech grove lately, with all those bad ordered cars there and no money for repairs, amtrak is VERY strapped for cars sometimes to the point of , just enough cars to make a train up.

[GP30M4216]

Actually, there will be more cars. In the past two Thanksgiving's, I've seen seven and eight car consists for Wolverine Service trains on the day before Thanksgiving, and some other following days during the Thanksgiving Weekend. Last Year's Blue Water was 6 cars. It normally is four cars. Wolverine Trains 351-354 are normally 5 cars, with an additional coach most weekends. 350 is normally 4 cars and will probably be longer for the holiday too. The fact remains that even with seven coaches, the space can fill up.

At least the Talgo equipment in the Pacific NorthWest is back on line, freeing up several trainsets of single level Amfleet and Horizon equipment to be available in the midwest and east for the holidays.

[Tlout]

The Pere Marquette through Holland has been running on time in the morning - an occassional 5 to 10 minutes late arrival, but otherwise not too bad.

[csxt4617]

One year on a holiday weekend, I saw the PM with Metra bilevel coaches...I think it was 1998 or 1999. Can't remember if it was Thanksgiving or Easter.