“We are having a very strong year because people around the country are choosing the convenience, efficiency and hassle-free environment of Amtrak to meet their travel needs,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman. “Amtrak has wisely invested the federal funding we have received to improve infrastructure and equipment. Continued investment in Amtrak and passenger rail will support the further growth of this increasingly vital transportation option.”

Amtrak is basing its projection of more than 30 million passengers on strong June ridership numbers and expected ticket sales for July, August and September. June 2011 was the best June on record with more than 2.6 million passengers for the month and marked 20 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth, a streak that began in November 2009.

After an unusually rough start in the first three months of this year, ridership for April, May and June recorded the highest second quarter totals since 1994, with 231,194 passengers. Compared to the second quarter of 2010, this is an increase of nearly eight percent, or more than 16,550 new passengers. The month of June had the highest increase of nearly 10 percent and 78,839 passengers.

Ridership on Amtrak Cascades was down 10 percent after the first quarter of 2011. The unusually high number of mudslides that cancelled many trains contributed significantly to the decrease, as well as the absence of the tourism created last year by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. Total ridership on Amtrak Cascades year to date is 398,207 through June 30. Total ridership through June of 2010 was 398,414.

In 2010, total ridership on Amtrak Cascades finished with a 16-year high of 838,251 passengers and exceeded 2009 by 76,641 for a 10 percent increase. The final ridership total capped a year of record breaking numbers where eight of the 12 months set new benchmarks.

The project will restore a rail line, improving 50 miles of track and infrastructure on a direct route from Springfield to East Northfield, MA along the Connecticut River Valley.

“Thanks to President Obama’s commitment to create jobs and strengthen our manufacturing sector, these dollars are delivering more than 200 new jobs along with the purchase of 50 miles of American-made steel rails,” LaHood said.  “Coupled with previous federal investments along the Vermonter line, these improvements will bring almost a one hour reduction in travel time for passengers traveling in Vermont and Massachusetts.”

With more than a sixteen percent ridership increase in 2010, the Vermonter line operates between St. Albans, VT and Washington, DC.  The Massachusetts portion of the rail line dates back to the mid-1800’s.  After track conditions deteriorated in the 1980’s, Amtrak service was shifted to a rail line farther east.  Work to restore the original passenger route on Pan Am Southern Railway’s Connecticut River mainline also includes construction of two new stations in Greenfield and Northampton, MA.

Progress on the Vermonter service began last year with a $50 million grant to the Vermont Agency of Transportation, improving 190 miles of track between St. Albans and Vernon, shaving 30 minutes off of travel time within Vermont.  Long-term, the investments in Vermont and Massachusetts will also increase reliability and for future expansion of service to Montreal, Quebec.

“We are having a very strong year because people around the country are choosing the convenience, efficiency and hassle-free environment of Amtrak to meet their travel needs,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman. “Amtrak has wisely invested the federal funding we have received to improve infrastructure and equipment. Continued investment in Amtrak and passenger rail will support the further growth of this increasingly vital transportation option.”

Amtrak is basing its projection of more than 30 million passengers on strong June ridership numbers and expected ticket sales for July, August and September. June 2011 was the best June on record with more than 2.6 million passengers for the month and marked 20 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth, a streak that began in November 2009.

This strong performance is part of a long-term trend that has seen Amtrak set annual ridership records in seven of the last eight fiscal years, including more than 28.7 million passengers in FY 2010.

Comparing the first nine months of FY 2011 (October – June) to the same time period in FY 2010, national Amtrak ridership is up 6.4 percent so far this fiscal year and all three major business lines are showing gains: the Northeast Corridor up 5.6 percent, state-supporte

This is the largest loan issued through the RRIF program to date, and the dollars will finance the purchase of 70 high-performance, electric locomotives from Siemens Industry USA. These locomotives are more energy-efficient and will enable Amtrak to improve frequency, performance and reliability for regional and intercity routes along the Northeast and Keystone Corridors.

“President Obama has a bold vision to provide Americans with a world-class, passenger rail network, while giving American manufacturers and suppliers nationwide an opportunity to get into the rail business,” LaHood said. “The Obama Administration is committed to making strategic, long-term investments that create jobs and boost the economy now, and this financing plan is already putting Americans back to work at assembly plants and supply companies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia.”

Siemens Industry USA is adding 250 new manufacturing jobs in order to design and build 70 new energy-efficient locomotives for Amtrak. Three of Siemens’ U.S. manufacturing plants will deliver the equipment order, with traction motors and gear units being produced in Norwood, Ohio, traction converters and braking choppers being built in Alpharetta, GA, and final assembly of the locomotives in Sacramento, Calif. The RRIF loan will also upgrade maintenance facilities and allow for the purchase of spare parts needed to support the new locomotives.

Suppliers from communities around the country will soon be tapped by Siemens Industry USA to provide components for the order, further boosting U.S. manufacturing. For example, PHW, Inc. a company based in East Pittsburgh, PA, has already been contracted to manufacture safety-related parts for the locomotives.

“The RRIF program is a model of how we can leverage federal dollars to spur private investment and build up the economy,” Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo said. “It provides steady, affordable financing for major rail construction and expansion projects, and best of all, it comes at zero cost to the taxpayer.”

As part of a comprehensive plan to modernize and expand its fleet of equipment, the 70 Amtrak Cities Sprinter ACS-64 locomotives – still in the final design phase – will replace existing units that have been in service for 20-30 years with an average of 3.5 million miles traveled. The electric locomotives will begin operating along regional and intercity routes in 2013 on the Northeast and Keystone Corridors, which together serve more than one million Amtrak passengers every month.

The project, which will get under way late r this summer, will eliminate one of the nation’s largest rail bottlenecks. The Illinois Department of Transportation contributed $6.6 million to the $133 million project.

The Englewood Flyover is a grade separation project south of Chicago Union Station that eliminates one of the most delay-prone intersections in the entire Amtrak system. It separates Rock Island District Metra commuter trains from Amtrak passenger trains traveling on the Norfolk Southern (NS) corridor.

“Untying rail congestion in Chicago is critical to developing a Midwest passenger rail network that will connect the 40 largest markets in the Midwest,” LaHood said. “Building the Englewood Flyover will put Americans back to work this summer and create new orders in our domestic supply chain.”

An agreement between Illinois, NS and Amtrak also lays the groundwork for an additional express track for high-speed trains to points east and south. Amtrak utilizes the NS line for all trains from Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Indianapolis into Chicago. The State of Illinois will serve as the hub of the Midwest passenger rail network.

The Englewood Flyover project is part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program, a partnership between the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, freight railroads, Metra and Amtrak, to remove and reduce train congestion throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest region.

This congestion impacts all modes of transportation, forcing more trucks on to the highways, limiting access to airports, and reducing the capacity of railroads, limiting the regions effectiveness as the nation’s transportation hub, officials contend. In addition to the intercity passenger benefits, the Englewood Flyover will also reduce freight and commuter delays, keeping more people and freight off Chicagoland’s congested highways.

“Not only will Illinois see the benefit of new construction jobs and some desperately needed congestion relief, this is a great opportunity for Illinois suppliers to bid on new orders,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “Illinois has more railway suppliers than any other state in the country, and does more than $4.5 billion in sales each year.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and annual appropriations have, to date, provided $10.1 billion to put America on track towards providing new and expanded rail access to communities and improving the reliability, speed, and frequency of existing service. Of that, nearly $6 billion dollars has already been obligated for rail projects. This $126 million obligation was funded through the Recovery Act. In the Midwest, construction started last fall on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor.

The Englewood Flyover will mark the first construction between Chicago and Detroit, which has received several grants. The Midwest has also received an award for a new fleet of domestically-built trains.

The Amtrak train was traveling from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., when it was stuck by a truck at about 11:25 a.m. PT today. Numerous fatalities and multiple injuries have been reported.

Robert Accetta will serve as Investigator-in-Charge for the team.

“This service has exceeded its ridership expectations from the day it started and even in the current economic climate is on a record-setting pace,” said Mike Chandler, who is responsible for the Heartland Flyer service as Amtrak General Superintendent, Southwest Division.

Since this Amtrak fiscal year began Oct. 1 and through May 2011, ridership on the Heartland Flyer has grown by nearly 10 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Total ridership since the Heartland Flyer inauguration on June 14, 1999, now totals 790,713.

“Any plan for transforming the Northeast Corridor (NEC) must make transportation the centerpiece of the effort. The NEC is not just a piece of real estate – it is a major transportation artery and a vital component of the regional economy carrying more than 250,000 intercity and commuter passengers every day.

“The Mica/Shuster proposal takes Amtrak apart only to put something in its place that looks quite similar. I hope to have a serious and constructive discussion about how rail operations in the Northeast should be managed, but it appears this bill will be rushed through committee next week.

“We should have our eyes open to the possibility of innovations that can improve the NEC and Amtrak provides the region the best opportunity to achieve the needed improvements. The NEC is a success under Amtrak stewardship and many components of our next-generation high-speed rail vision plan are already moving forward.

“We’re going to have to take a careful look at the proposal because we don’t want to run the risk of adopting something that won’t work, that compromises safety, or that simply costs more than we can afford.
“We have a basic duty to the public to ensure that we’re looking after their interests, and the last thing the Northeast needs is a plan that’s poorly thought through and that doesn’t take key issues into account.”

Chief O’Connor said threats against rail transportation are very real and “[t]he recent events after the death of bin Laden serve as a stark reminder that these threats continue to be viable.” He stressed the interest of terrorists in derailing trains is of particular concern to Amtrak which “operates high-speed rail trains where catastrophic losses could occur.”

The security countermeasures will provide additional ROW protections for passenger trains, particularly those operating on the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor. They will join existing Amtrak security efforts focusing on threats related to the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in a station or on a train, or an active shooter scenario.

Historically, Amtrak has used a range of security strategies such as high security fencing, bollards, blast curtains, access control and technologically driven initiatives to protect stations, bridges and tunnels. Amtrak is exploring the expanded use of these strategies for ROW protection.

Since the U.S. raid on the bin Laden compound, Amtrak has bolstered current security actions, expanded ROW patrols in collaboration with other federal, state and local partners, and met with officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to evaluate next steps based on the intelligence gathered. Amtrak also is reinforcing employee awareness programs, particularly with personnel from its Engineering and Mechanical departments, to encourage
vigilance and the reporting of unusual occurrences on the ROW.