Passenger Trains > Texas Eagle gains highest passenger increase

March 19, 2019
Train town: Texas Eagle gains highest passenger increase
Longview News-Journal


Almost 29,500 Texas Eagle passengers came through the local station
last year.

Passengers bound for as far away as Chicago began arriving shortly
before 6 p.m. one evening last week at the Longview Amtrak Station,
filling seats in the lobby or waiting outside.

Many arrived via an Amtrak Thruway bus that had departed Galveston at
11:30 a.m. Even after station agent Pat Calton announced the Texas
Eagle was running about 15 minutes late, none complained about the
wait.

They were set for a trip on the line that's seen the highest
percentage rate of increase in passengers among Amtrak's 15
long-distance Southeast routes from October through January compared
with year-earlier traffic, according to data Amtrak released
Thursday.

Texas Eagle ridership increased 23.2 percent to 110,970 passengers
during the period, up from 90,099 a year ago. Amtrak had projected a
9.4 percent increase.

Revenues neared $7.95 million, up $75,782, or 14 percent, from a year
ago.

The revenue increase ranked second behind a 16.1 percent gain on the
Palmetto, which runs from New York City to Savannah, Georgia.

But the Eagle would slide into first place if February figures were
included, Texas Eagle Revenue Manager Griff Hubbard said last week.
Amtrak has not released February results. 'We've moved up' The gains
signal an impressive turnaround for the Texas Eagle, which suffered
declines for the past few years blamed on projects that have hampered
the flow of rail traffic west of Longview.

"We come from the very bottom, from the worst performer on the list,
to the top performer" since May, Hubbard said. "We've moved up 14
places."

Full story:

https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/mar/18/train-town-texas-eagle-boasts-highest-rate-of-pass/

How are the passengers counted at Longview? If they ride Galveston to Chicago with a transfer at Longview
from Thruway to the train, are they double counted ?

With the population served, this should be a popular route. Now that on time performance has improved a ridership increase is welcome. Shame the train is so slow compared to the original Texas Eagle.

Posted from Android

How is the Sunset portion doing between San Antonio and New Orleans?