Rail shutdown would be slap to region
Amtrak ridership is on the increase

By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, 6/26/2002

As Amtrak's future continued to be debated yesterday, no area of the country stands to lose more through a possible shutdown or change in service than Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the troubled railway's financial breadbasket where ridership is actually increasing.

Rolling between Boston and Washington, D.C., rail service has become one of the region's most important and dependable modes of travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With airline numbers dropping as passengers grow frustrated with the delays of stringent security, rail is gaining a strong foothold in the Northeast, one that could be permanently damaged if service is disrupted, transit analysts say.

Because even as Amtrak continues to sink under the weight of mounting debt, new passengers continue to climb aboard. The growth is significant enough that, in a lukewarm economy, airline marketers have begun setting up shop in Boston's South Station, hoping to steal passengers away from Amtrak's Boston-to-New York high-speed Acela service.

''Rail is an integral part of traveling in the nation, but nowhere does a transportation infrastructure depend on rail more than in the Northeast,'' said Amtrak spokeswoman Karen Dunn.

Indeed, when Amtrak CEO David L. Gunn raised the specter last week of a systemwide shutdown, he purposely set the Northeast in his sights, a region where the pain and political outcry would be most intense.

By comparison, when Gunn's predecessor made threats to cut cross-country runs, without touching service in the Northeast, the reaction in Congress, which has been the national railroad's financier, was lukewarm at best.

Gunn's tactics continued yesterday when he held a conference call with rail and transit officials from throughout the Northeast and promised no shutdown this week, but made no guarantees about what might happen next week.

Within the Northeast Corridor, ridership was up 23 percent in May, with a 44 percent growth in revenue over last year, according to Amtrak figures. No other area of the country experienced that type of increase.

Nationwide, Amtrak train ridership was up 1.1 percent in May, while plane boardings were down nearly 11 percent for the month.

According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, Amtrak ridership in the Northeast in 2001 accounted for nearly half of Amtrak's total ridership that year, and nearly a third of Amtrak's total gross revenue.

In addition, its Boston-to-Portland, Maine, Downeaster train is continuing its steady growth this summer after less than a year in existence. And despite mounting financial woes, there are more Amtrak trains running between South Station and New York City now than at any other time since the 1930s.

Much of the boom in ridership can be attributed to the new Acela Express, which Amtrak officials say has reduced travel time in the Northeast and made train service pleasant again. Compared with the high security of airline travel, the lack of in-flight meals and the barring of bathroom use 30 minutes before a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., train travel is being seen in a new, more positive light.

In May, Acela Express carried 266,862 passengers on a total of 845 trains. That ridership alone brought in $32 million in revenue, more than 5 percent above Amtrak's predictions. Regular train service had 510,194 passengers in May, with revenue totaling $26.6 million on 1,351 trains.

Despite the positive statistics, Amtrak officials are frustrated by the lack of financial support in Congress.

''There's just always been a bias against Amtrak,'' said Dunn. ''Looking at what the airlines and the highways get, there's clearly a large difference in the attitudes and the ideas about what train transportation should get.''

Dunn ticked off the numbers. In its 31-year history, Amtrak has received $10 billion from the government, while the highway and aviation industries have gotten a combined subsidy of $750 billion, including the recent $15 billion federal aviation bailout after Sept. 11.

''When we were created, there was a promise that was made that we'd be self-sufficient,'' she said. ''But now, we realize that there isn't a single profitable railroad that is unfunded by the government in the world. It's an unattainable goal.''

This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 6/26/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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