The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
officially began service in May 1971. Amtrak offers services in 46 states on
a network of over 22,000 track miles.
Ridership data are highly seasonal, with July and August being very
high season months. In 2000, Amtrak
introduced a high-speed rail service in the northeast U.S., which helped
increase ridership.
Amtrak Revenue Passenger Miles
Aug-07
Aug-08
Amtrak
revenue passenger miles (millions)
564.0
614.9
Percent
change from same month previous year
8.00
9.02
NOTE: the current value is compared to the
value from the same period in the previous year to account for seasonality.
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration,
Office of Safety Analysis, available at
http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of November 2008.
