Amtrak on track to break annual ridership record despite Sandy hiccups

Skift Take

Americans are increasingly choosing trains over air travel, which has contributed to Amtrak’s recent growth and can be expected to play a major factor in negotiations over its $2.3+ billion budget request for 2014.

Rail ridership continues to grow in America.

March was the best single month ever in the history of Amtrak, and October, December and January each set records for their respective months, according to a company spokesperson. (UPDATE: Full release here.)

All of that is despite the damage and closures caused by Sandy.

It’s also because Amtrak has been setting ridership records for just about every year for the past dozen years (chart), so any growth — whatever size — is also a new record. Amtrak set 11 consecutive monthly records last year. (PDF)

Tags: amtrak, northeast, usa

Photo Credit: An Amtrak train arrives in Oakland, California. Michael Patrick / Flickr

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