Amtrak sets record for its yearly ridership

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 24, 2007 | by Bloomberg News

Amtrak, the U.S.'s national passenger railroad, said its ridership rose 6.3 percent to a record 25.8 million in the year ending Sept. 30, helped by a surge in demand from travelers in the Northeast.

Ticket sales climbed 11 percent to $1.5 billion as overall revenue reached $2.2 billion, the railway, based in Washington, D.C., said Tuesday in a statement.

Faced with growing air-traffic delays in and around New York, where congestion is the worst in the United States, more travelers are opting to go by rail. Ticket sales in the Northeast jumped 14 percent to $829.3 million, Amtrak said.