Cleveland Real Estate News

The months are flying by aren’t they? It’s already time for the next update on passenger rail and transit news for the Midwest/Ohio. The Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) did a study of Amtrak ridership in the Mid West. Some stats:

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  In the last five years, Mid West corridor ridership has increased 64%Long distance Mid West routes were up over 9%2.6 million riders rode Mid West corridor routes in 2007

MIPRC had this to say:

Our report last year admitted that the picture was not completely rosy for the Midwest, as several routes had lost ridership. This year it’s all coming up roses - every route within or going through the Midwest gained riders in FY 08. Missouri is a special success - after two years of decreasing ridership, 30 percent more people took the Kansas City-St. Louis service than the previous year.

Ridership is up Nationally too. The National Rail Passenger Commission issued a press release and here are some stats from it:

28.7 people rode Amtrak in last 12 months (their fiscal year ends Sept. 30th, thus the yearly report)

• that is an 11.1% increase in ridership.
• total ticket revenue for Amtrak was 14.2% higher than the year before; in fact,
• this is record ridership - the most since it all began in 1971.

 The color emphasis is mine, but here is a quote from the Amtrak website/press release:

“After another record-breaking year, in which the railroad achieved double-digit growth, Amtrak has solidified its role as a leader in the nation’s transportation network and proven intercity passenger rail’s relevance in today’s world,” said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak.

“With the recent passage of a reauthorization bill, which includes a significant state and federal capital matching grant program, we also look forward to expanding state partnerships to provide more rail service in growing corridors nationwide.”

Here is a chart in pdf form (only one page) of Amtrak ridership/revenues for the last fiscal year.

Since Ohio is working on the first leg of the Ohio Hub/3C Corridor, here is a Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune editorial  from mid October in support of MN signing on for high speed rail. The sticking point, especially in our volatile economy, is money for Minnesota, just as it is here. A  Maryland based company did a feasibility study:

“….It concluded that a line with top speeds of 110 miles per hour and a direct link to Grand Casino in Hinckley would be financially self-sustaining after an initial ramp-up period.

That’s not enough to guarantee a federal grant, but it’s a crucial start. The higher hurdle to be cleared is at the State Capitol. Getting the Northern Lights Express rolling is expected to cost about $400 million. The state need not provide the entire 20 percent non-federal share; local and some private expenditures at stations would count toward the match. But the state’s share still could exceed $50 million….”

Somehow, spending money on rail projects sounds so much more economically rewarding than bailing out failed banks. Just sayin’. Peace Out - 3C

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