25 March 2008

Amtrakââ¬â¢s New York-Boston route a rare success

With all its widely-publicized troubles, thereââ¬â¢s also a tiny glint of good news for Amtrak: the Boston to New York route.

Last year, Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express train carried a record 593,000 passengers from Boston to New York. An Amtrak rep says Acela's market share on the busy route grew from 36% in 2006 to 41% last year.

Passengers are picking Amtrak over other options such as Greyhound, which runs about 30 busses a day between Boston and New York. The Fung Wah bus also links the Chinatowns of the two cities.

For flights, the New York-Boston route is the seventh busiest in the country. Delta and US Airways fly hourly shuttles from Boston Logan to LaGuardia; American, Delta and JetBlue to JFK; and Continental flies hourly from Boston to its hub at Newark.

Reasons for the train routeââ¬â¢s success include its speed (a three and a half hour trip) and the ability to work on the train, officials say. But the train is also cheaper or often half the price of an airline ticket.

ââ¬ÅâœAfter a long, slow start, Amtrak seems to have found a way to compete with the airlines, at least in the Northeast Corridor,ââ¬~ said Wired -- Autopia in a report that asks:

ââ¬ÅâœCould this signal a renewed interest in US passenger rail, at least in short haul markets?ââ¬~

The answer: possibly.

Report by David Wilkening

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• Amtrak Success is Wide
  
  

  Boston-New York is far from the only Amtrak success.Almost every route Amtrak has, patronage has grown and in many places quite significantly. For details the the success of all specific routes, contact the National Association of Railroad Passengers in Washington.

  By kramer, Thursday, March 27, 2008