November 27, 2001: The Boston Globe reported today that the CSX derailment in the Bronx on Sunday the 25th was of an empty trash train. This affected the NY-Boston line, cutting off power for 10 miles of Amtrak's route. The paper noted that an Amtrak official reported that ridership seemed to be up 11-13% above last year's Thanksgiving weekend. It was not clear whether the figure was meant to apply to the whole Corridor or only to the NY-Boston section.
The Wall Street Journal of Nov 23 carried an interesting article about airports that have train connections, with special reference to the new Newark NJ airport station.
Amtrak's Capitol Corridor between San Jose and Auburn CA in October reported
a decline in ridership for the first time since administrative management
was changed. October ridership totalled 90,671 for a 2% decline from Oct
2000. However, special circumstances caused the patronage decline;
it does not indicate a general softening of patronage for the Capitols.
All the patronage loss was south of Emeryville, and caused by a change
in the Altamont Commuter Express schedules so that an ACE train departure
from Fremont south now occurs before a Capitol departure; the reverse was
true before. Riders shifted to the earlier train.
From Auburn south through Berkeley, all stations showed massive increases,
ranging from 8.5% to 37.2%. Berkeley, even with its rundown, transient-infested
loading area, was the one with the biggest increase on the line--37.2%.
Let's hear it for Berkeley!
Another big contributor to the south-end decline was the temporary shutdown
of a bridge over Coyote Creek, so that buses had to be substituted for
the southern portion for a time. No bus rider counts were included in the
rail patronage figures.