Ridership on Acela better than expected

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 6/28/2001

Amtrak announced better-than-expected ridership on its high-speed Acela
Express trains this week, as well as the introduction of a fifth weekday
roundtrip between Boston and New York City.

The new addition to Acela's schedule will leave Boston's South Station at
6:42 p.m., arriving at New York's Penn Station about 3 hours and 28 minutes
later. The new train, which will begin service July 9, will be the last of
the day.

Amtrak also announced that it will add a third weekend roundtrip between New
York and Boston, which will depart from South Station at 11 a.m. and return
to Boston at 6:03 p.m.. The national railroad also doubled Acela Express
service between New York and Washington, D.C., the southern terminus of the
train.

In its first six months of service, from Dec. 11 to June 1, the snub-nosed
bullet train - the only one in Amtrak's fleet with first-class seating -
pulled in $15.3 million in ticket revenue from 130,486 passengers, said
spokeswoman Cecilia Cummings.

Three of Greater Boston's terminals - South Station, Back Bay Station, and
the Route 128 stop - have accounted for 25 percent of Acela's ticket
revenues so far, making Boston the top market for the new train, spokeswoman
Karen Dunn said.

Cummings said ridership and revenue numbers exceeded expectations, but she
declined to elaborate.

''We're thrilled, particularly in light of the fact that business-sector
sales as a whole have been lackluster,'' Cummings said. ''We exceeded our
sales projections slightly, not tremendously. We think it reflects a very
strong demand for this service.''

Cummings said that Amtrak will offer a two-for-one ticket special for all
weekend trips on Acela Express until Sept. 23 to celebrate the train's warm
reception.

Yesterday, US Representatives Amo Houghton, Republican of New York, and
James Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota, introduced the High-Speed Rail
Investment Act -- the House companion to a bill with 57 co-sponsors in the
Senate -- that would fund development of high-speed corridors nationwide.


This story ran on page B7 of the Boston Globe on 6/28/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

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