Tampa Leads Amtrak's Ridership Growth In Florida

Tampa leads Amtrak's passenger growth at 18 Florida stations with a 33.5 percent gain in ridership to 100,119 passengers in fiscal 2008.

That's more than double the 14.6 percent gain in Florida ridership to 963,092 and triple the 11.1 percent nationwide gain to 28.7 million passengers from October 2007 through September.

Higher gasoline prices have pushed more travelers to Amtrak in recent months, and Tampa is drawing more passengers to and from Miami, its leading destination.

Amtrak's cheapest one-way fare between Tampa and Miami is $29. To New York, Tampa's seventh busiest Amtrak destination behind six Florida cities, the best fare is $94.

With President-elect Barack Obama a longtime Amtrak supporter and expectations transportation will become a key focus in the nation's economic stimulus plan, the outlook for the federally supported railroad may be the rosiest since its inception in 1971.

"We urge you to allocate at least $20 billion of total stimulus spending to projects that will improve and expand passenger train service throughout the country," National Association of Railroad Passengers officials wrote in a Dec. 31 letter to the Obama transition team.

"The current dip in oil prices ... does not eliminate the need to prepare America for the time when oil once again becomes scarce and expensive."

In a recent interview with The Tampa Tribune, association Chief Executive Ross Capon said restoration of Amtrak service between Orlando and Los Angeles should be a top priority, as well as resurrecting plans to expand Florida service to other destinations.

"The capacity of the existing New York-Florida trains could be more than doubled if only the cars existed," said Jim Langston, an Amtrak advocate from Tampa. "This can be done without adding additional locomotives or operating crews."

Tampa International Airport, for example, handles nearly as many passengers in two days as Amtrak does in Tampa all year.

Annabella Ellis of Norwich, England, one of 60 southbound passengers and 51 arrivals at Tampa on Monday on the New York-to-Miami Silver Star, said she's accustomed to greater train frequency in Great Britain.

"But Amtrak appears to be more comfortable," she said.