Americans rediscover the railroad

BOSTON (Reuters) - As oil prices spike, many Americans arerediscovering the railroad.

Amtrak, America's struggling passenger railroad, saw recordnumbers in May when ridership rose 12.3 percent from a yearearlier, and ticket sales climbed 15.6 percent, according tocompany data.

Amtrak President Alex Kummant said the numbers point to asixth straight year of record passengers. He estimated a morethan 11 percent rise this year on its 21,000 miles (33,800 km)of track, building on last year's 26 million passengers.

He attributes about half that growth to higher gas prices."It depends on the service but certainly our ridership growthis linked to the fuel prices," he said in an interview. "We areup against capacity limits."

The Bush administration has sought to scrap direct federalfunding for Amtrak, a for-profit federal corporation that hasbled red ink since its 1971 creation. Its backers contend thatpassenger rail services in other countries also lose money.

The White House threatened on Monday to veto legislation tofund Amtrak for the next five years, saying the U.S. House ofRepresentatives failed to include language that would make therailroad more accountable.

The House legislation would authorize Amtrak funding of $14billion (7.1 billion pounds) and set up a program of federalmatching grants to states for projects to improve passengerservice, an arrangement Kummant says is crucial for anyexpansion.

"That would have a huge impact," Kummant said. "We are in adifferent world than even just three or four years ago with gasprices at these levels, with the congestion we face on thehighways and with the difficulty in air travel."

Rail advocates say the rise in passenger numbers underlinesthe need for greater federal and state funding in railways tobring the United States in line with Europe and Japan and giveAmtrak the muscle to compete with commercial airlines.

They point to long-distance routes where ridership jumped15 percent in May as evidence that railways can compete withairlines, as the rising cost of jet fuel pushes up air fares.

While Britain, France and Germany all have passenger railsystems that account for about 6-8 percent of total annualpassenger travel miles, Amtrak carries less than 1 percent.Japan, which operates the world's busiest high-speed railnetwork with its Shinkansen trains, carries about 18 percent.

"It's a matter of getting a huge ship like the Americantransportation industry to change direction," said Ross Capon,executive director of the National Association of RailroadPassengers, which lobbies for more subsidies for Amtrak.

FUEL COSTS 'GETTING TOO HIGH'

Many travellers say they would like to see more services,citing frustration over U.S. gasoline pump prices averagingabove $4 a gallon and rising air ticket prices.

"Even for business travellers there's a lot of corporatepressure to cut down on travel costs," said Paul Clapis, 53,after stepping off Amtrak's only high-speed service, the AcelaExpress, following a trip from New York to Boston.

Clapis, a director of a financial company, said he usuallymade the trip by air until two months ago when he switched tothe train to save money.

Sharon Danaher-Henry, a senior citizen, decided not to flyto Maine from Connecticut. It's too expensive, she said, to flywith the top U.S. carriers, which tried to raise most domesticfares by $20 round-trip over the weekend.

"The cost of flying is outrageous," she said, while waitingin Hartford, Connecticut, for an Amtrak train to take her about200 miles (322 km) to Portland, Maine.

The ticket to Portland costs about $100, less than a thirdof one of the cheapest available airline tickets that wouldrequire two stopovers. Both trips require more than seven hourswhen including time needed for switching between planes.

"The train is inexpensive and it takes the same travel timeas flying but at least with the train, you get to see scenicthings," she said.

The question of whether to expand the nation's onlylong-haul passenger railroad could spill into presidentialpolitics.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama hassaid on his Web site he would fight for Amtrak funding whileseeking reforms. His Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, has inthe past sought to block federal subsidies for Amtrak.

Critics say Amtrak remains woefully slow and inefficient.

On tracks shared with commuter trains on the Washington-NewYork-Boston corridor, Amtrak's premier service, the Acela,averages 82 miles per hour (132 km per hour) although it canhit 150 mph (241 kph) in parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In contrast, Japan, France and Germany have developednationwide rail systems capable of speeds of 150 mph (241 kph)to 185 mph (297 kph) on dedicated tracks with sophisticatedsignalling systems designed for high-speed trains.

(Additional reporting by Lucy Nalpathanchil in Hartford,editing by Alan Elsner)