Amtrak ridership up nearly 10 percent in April

Amtrak ridership surged in April to be the best April on record and extends Amtrak's streak to 18 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth. Ridership for April 2011 was nearly 2.7 million passengers, which represents an increase of 9.9 percent over April 2010 and keeps Amtrak on the path to set a new annual ridership record. This performance is part of a long-term trend that has seen Amtrak set annual ridership records in seven of the last eight fiscal years, including more than 28.7 million passengers in FY 2010. Comparing the first seven months of FY 2011 (October - April) to the same time period in FY 2010, national Amtrak ridership is up 6.5 percent so far this fiscal year and all three major business lines are showing gains: the Northeast Corridor up 4.8 percent, state-supported and other short distance corridors up 8.1 percent and long-distance trains up 5.6 percent. According to Amtrak, factors contributing to these record highs include strong Easter holiday travel in April, high gasoline prices which have trended higher, continued growth in business travel on the high-speed Acela Express trains with Wi-Fi service, the increased appeal and popularity of rail travel and effective marketing campaigns. The streak of 18 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth began in November 2009.