WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak reported a five percent increase in ridership in March compared with a year earlier. The growth followed two consecutive years of record ridership for the national passenger rail service.
"We typically see some shift to rail as fuel prices rise, and we're seeing that pattern here as well. Continued ridership growth underscores the essential role rail plays in connecting communities along the Northeast Corridor and across the nation," Amtrak spokesperson Beth Toll said.
The average nationwide price of a gallon of gasoline rose recently to $4.30, the highest level since the war in Iran began two months ago. Brightline, the private rail operator, reported a more than twenty percent increase in ridership in March compared with a year earlier.
At Union Station in Washington, Joshua Newman, 20, of Washington, D.C., was waiting to board an Amtrak train for the first time in his life. He was traveling to visit friends at a festival in North Carolina.
"It usually would be shorter to drive, but the gas prices are high," Newman said. "I would rather take the train, instead of having to actually worry about the other prices that come with driving."
Dorothy English, another passenger at the station, had recently driven from Florida to New York by car. She spent $140 filling her tank during that drive.
"It's really ridiculous," English said. "I actually spent $140 to fill up, from Florida to New York. Every time we went to another state, we were filling it up."
English later decided to take the train from New York to North Carolina with a layover in Washington. "I'm not going to pay that much to travel anymore. The train is cheaper. So I said, let me take the cheaper way out," she said.