Amtrak sees decline in long-haul ridership

Ridership on Amtrak’s two long-haul train routes through Colorado dropped slightly last fiscal year, even as interest grows in the creation of a Front Range passenger rail service.

Amtrak says the Chicagoto-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, which stops in Lamar, La Junta and Trinidad, had 363,000 riders in fiscal year 2017, compared with 365,000 the year before.

Communities across Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico have been working to preserve the line in the face of millions of dollars worth of needed track repairs, with some success thus far.

The rail carrier’s Chicago-to-San Francisco California Zephyr, which stops in Fort Morgan, Denver, Fraser, Granby, Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, dropped to 415,000 riders last fiscal year, compared with 417,000 riders the year before.

Overall, Amtrak boasted record ridership, revenue and earnings for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Amtrak also says it achieved a record for cost recovery, covering 94.7 percent of its operating costs with ticket sales and other revenues.

The carrier had 31.7 million passenger trips last fiscal year — that represented a 1.5 percent increase over 2016 — hauling in $3.2 billion in revenue.

In its ridership and earnings report, Amtrak also noted the success of its Winter Park Express, which will again be taking skiers and snowboarders up to the mountains this winter.

Members of a commission exploring the viability of passenger train service across the Front Range are expected next month to present state lawmakers with draft legislation that would allow progress to continue toward a Trinidad-to-Fort Collins train route.

Amtrak’s long-haul routes looked to be at risk under President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget earlier this year, but their future appears less at risk for the time being.

The long-distance lines had 4.6 million riders last fiscal year, a 0.9 percent increase over the previous 12 months.