Terror attack affects U.S. transportation: travellers switch to rail
Last Tuesday, the American rail company Amtrak recorded the highest one-day ticket-sales revenue in its 30-year history. Some experts think that in the wake of the terrorist incidents the uptick in intercity train travel could last for years.
Amtrak's passengers surged 60 percent following the two-day shut-down of U.S. aviation.
While the increase was most pronounced in the busy Washington-Boston Northeast corridor, patronage also rose throughout the financially ailing company's long-distance network particularly between Chicago and New York, New York and Florida and Chicago and the West Coast.
Amtrak said it had added all available passenger cars to its trains and was honouring airline tickets of stranded travellers.
While Amtrak has had its share of accidents including one last Monday in Utah it could now become the transportation mode of choice for many travellers, particularly as new security procedures at airports render air travel more costly and time-consuming.
Due to its precarious financial position, Amtrak's future is uncertain. The U.S. Congress has mandated that Amtrak break even by the end of next year or face restructuring or liquidation.
Source: Daniel Machalaba and Carlos Tejada, Amtrak Ridership Jumps by 60 Percent; Increase Could Endure for Years, Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2001.
For text (WSJ subscribers) http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1000432505469789122.htm
For more on Highways & Mass Transit http://www.ncpa.org/pd/budget/budget-7.html
FMF\18 September 2001
Publish date: 25 September 2001
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