More than 24 million passengers traveled on Amtrak in fiscal 2003, ended Sept. 30, the highest annual ridership in the nation’s intercity passenger rail service’s 32-year history. This topped the previous record of 23.5 million passengers in 2001 and was up 2.7 percent from 23.4 million in fiscal 2002. Ridership on long-haul routes in the East rose 3.8 percent and in the West 6.6 percent. The biggest increases were recorded on the Pennsylvanian, up 64 percent; the Texas Eagle, up 20 percent; the Silver Meteor, up 15.2 percent; and the City of New Orleans, up 14.5 percent. Ridership on shorter distance routes in the West rose 11.7 percent, but were off 1.6 percent in the East. Several Midwest trains, however, showed gains: the Pere Marquette, up 22.1 percent; the State House, up 13 percent; and the Illini, up 11.4 percent.
