NY Observer > Amtrak

Amtrak Northeast Ridership Up 3 Percent

Leigh Kamping-Carder — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:56:28 -0400

Ridership on Amtrak's Northeast corridor increased over 3.2 percent annually in June, from 878,671 passengers to 907,316, according to new figures from the national rail service.

A look at the most recent numbers for fiscal year 2008, which covers October through June, reveals an even sharper increase in ridership compared to the same nine months in 2007. From October through June, over 5.6 million passengers traveled the Northeast corridor, from Washington to Boston, versus 5 million during the same period last year, representing an 11 percent increase (and coming despite increased fares). Travel on Acela, the Northeast-only express service, increased by 8 percent, from 2. read more »

The $400 Domestic Airline Ticket And Other Fun Features of The Near Future

Tom Acitelli — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:00:13 -0400

"Jesus Christ, get over it. Transportation costs have gone up across the board for everyone, and every shipper. If you're bitching about $92, I wonder what you'll be saying two years from now when airfare to go anywhere domestic will start at $400, and the trains won't be far behind." ["Amtrak On Its Latest Fare Hike"]

Amtrak On Its Latest Fare Hike

Tom Acitelli — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:01:00 -0400

Last week, I griped about Amtrak's latest fare increase, particularly in the Northeast. Amtrak got back to me today in an email. It turns out it's not just in the Northeast; and it is partly due to higher fuel costs. From the email:

On July 8th, we increased the fares on the following routes by 5%. This was done as a result of our recent labor agreements as well as the rising cost of fuel on those routes that are powered by diesel locomotives. Our fares are set by supply and demand so the continued high demand and constrained capacity we are experiencing were also factors in the increase. read more »

Amtrak Ups Northeast Fares Again

Tom Acitelli — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:57:12 -0400

Just when higher gas prices are making air and car travel ever more expensive, the nation's intercity rail carrier has hiked its Northeast corridor fares. Amtrak some day very recently--we're waiting for an email back about the time details--raised its fares between New York's Penn Station and cities from Washington to at least Boston.

The cheapest ticket between Penn and Washington's Union Station is now $72, up from $69 as recently as a couple of weeks ago (full disclosure: I take Amtrak to D.C. at least once a month). The cheapest ticket between Penn and Boston's South Station is now $89, up from $70 or thereabouts only a year ago. read more »

Amtrak Ridership Mirrors LIRR Increases on Long Island

Tom Acitelli — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:35:33 -0400

The Times' Matthew Wald in a Saturday story reported that Amtrak ridership was increasing because of higher gasoline prices and other factors.

Amtrak set records in May, both for the number of passengers it carried and for ticket revenues — all the more remarkable because May is not usually a strong travel month... Want to take Amtrak’s daily Crescent train from New York to New Orleans? It is sold out on July 5, 6, 7 and 8. Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 5? The train is sold out, but Amtrak will sell you a bus ticket.

(Now only if Amtrak would lower its Northeast fares.)

My colleague Lysandra Ohrstrom earlier this month reported that ridership on the Long Island Railroad route from New York City to the Hamptons was up by double-digit percentages this spring over spring 2007.

House Passes Boost To Amtrak (Maybe To Moynihan Station, Too!)

Eliot Brown — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:17:24 -0400

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bill that would authorize billions in federal spending on Amtrak, boosting opportunities for high-speed rail and other programs in the Northeast and around the country.

The bill, which would allow more than $14 billion in spending, could also provide some money for Moynihan Station as part of a $2.5 billion grant program, according to Representative Jerry Nadler’s office, which has been active in pushing the bill. It also contains a provision that would have Amtrak take proposals to build a higher-speed rail link between Washington, D.C., and New York City, looking to reduce the trip to two hours; however, such a proposal would likely cost billions. read more »

Amtraked! Carrier to Temporarily Suspend Boston-New York Service

Lysandra Ohrstrom — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:14:18 -0400

Traveling on I-95 on a summer weekend has never been pleasant, but this weekend you can expect it to be particularly rough.

Amtrak announced that its Accela and regional service between New York, Boston, and New Haven will be cancelled from June 14 to June 17 so the moveable span of the 90-year-old Thames River Bridge connecting Groton and New London, Conn., can be replaced. read more »

Bloomberg Likes High(er)-Speed Rail to D.C.

Eliot Brown — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:28:39 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg today gave his support to a push to make a higher-speed train line between New York and Washington, D.C., endorsing federal legislation that seeks to create a two-hour rail trip between the cities.

The Acela, Amtrak’s high-speed service launched less than 10 years ago, takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes between the two cities.

The bill, part of a reauthorization of Amtrak, would solicit preliminary bids from the private sector to build the service. It’s being pushed by Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican. read more »

Obama's Interest in Rail Travel

Jason Horowitz — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:30:38 -0400

Today, Barack Obama decided to meet with an Amtrak worker and talk about expanding and improving rail service. The timing is not an accident.

He is alone among the presidential candidates in not advocating a cut in gas taxes over the summer, a stance for which he received an extremely rare bit of (conditional) praise from Paul Krugman, but for which he was attacked by his opponents. read more »

A Look Back: Amtrak, the Postal Service, and the Hatching of Moynihan Station

Eliot Brown — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:05:11 -0400

An addendum to our article earlier this week on the never-ending Moynihan Station saga: The concept of converting the Farley Post Office into a rail station is widely viewed as belonging to the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, its most persistent advocate from the early 1990s until his death in 2003. But the history goes back a bit further, and started as a partnership between the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak, both of which stood to gain from a redevelopment of Farley.

Two of the major forces behind the plan's genesis: Donald Pross, who served as Amtrak’s director of real estate and development until 1995, and Dennis Wamsley, who ran the Postal Service’s asset management division.

Amtrak, eager to have a more presentable flagship station, was looking at options of how to improve Penn Station in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to Mr. Pross.

Around the same time, a postal service executive was heading up a program known as asset management for the agency, finding ways to take existing properties, add other uses, and bring in some new money. read more »