WASHINGTON –Amtrak is projecting that for the first time ever its annual ridership will exceed 30 million passengers and in the process set a new all-time record when the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

OAKLAND – More travelers are choosing Amtrak Cascades for their trips between Vancouver, B.C., and Eugene, Ore., as Amtrak Cascades saw significant ridership growth in the second quarter of 2011, carrying nearly three quarters of a million people and breaking the record reached in 2010, Amtrak said.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said travel time on Amtrak’s Vermonter line will be cut by nearly 30 minutes through a $72.8 million grant to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

WASHINGTON – Amtrak is projecting that for the first time ever its annual ridership will exceed 30 million passengers and in the process set a new all-time record when the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a $562.9 million loan to Amtrak under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program that will create hundreds of manufacturing jobs across several states.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the Illinois Department of Transportation can now start spending $126 million for Chicago’s Englewood Flyover project that was awarded last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a Go-Team to investigate the collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a vehicle at a grade crossing on a rural highway in Nevada.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Communities along the Oklahoma City-Fort Worth route of the state-supported Amtrak Heartland Flyer will celebrate the 12th anniversary of daily passenger rail service on Saturday, June 18.

WASHINGTON – Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman issued the following statement today regarding proposed legislation by House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica and House Railroad Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster on privatizing the Northeast Corridor and the Amtrak national network:
“Any plan for transforming the Northeast Corridor (NEC) must make transportation the centerpiece of the effort. [...]

WASHINGTON – Amtrak is expanding its comprehensive rail security efforts to provide increased right of way (ROW) protection to detect and deter terrorists seeking to derail passenger trains, testified Amtrak Chief of Police John O’Connor before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.