by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
As gas prices creep back up, an often-forgotten mode of transportation may soon see another spike in business.
When the price of a gallon of gas hovered around $4 last summer, people all over the country started riding Amtrak trains in droves — as in record numbers.
“Last year year, fiscal year 2008, was the highest ever,” said Tracy Connell, manager of media relations for Amtrak. “We had 28.7 million riders. This year will be our second highest. The numbers have gone down from last year as gas has gone down. But, we are still up.”
Connell is based in Washington, D.C. but was in town Tuesday for Disney’s “Christmas Carol” train tour stop in Jacksonville. By the hundreds, parents and their young kids took a tour of the train, experienced its interactive displays and got a 10-minute preview of the movie that debuts nationwide Nov. 6 and stars Jim Carey and Gary Oldman.
Nicole Rivelli, spokesperson for Walt Disney Studios, said Jacksonville is stop No. 37 of 40 on a tour that started in May in Los Angeles and will wind up next month in New York. Rivelli has been along for the entire tour, but didn’t ride the specialty train.
“I have been living out of a tour bus,” said Rivelli, who lives in Orange County.
Rivelli said the Jacksonville turnout was one of the best so far. By 9 a.m., dozens and dozens of people had taken the free tour and at 11 a.m. people were still streaming in. Members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had been directing traffic since early in the morning.
“As we got into the school year, we got busier later in the day,” said Rivelli. “This is a good turnout for this hour. This is as busy, if not busier, than Miami. This is our first promotional train. We have done promotional mall tours, but nothing to this scale. It speaks volumes for this film.”
For many, the trip to the Amtrak station may have been their first. But, it may not be their last. Connell says Amtrak is still popular nationwide with the leisure traveler who simply isn’t in a hurry to get somewhere and wants to see the country, but doesn’t want to drive and can’t afford to fly. The trains have sleeping quarters, lounges and stop in most major cities.
“We have beautiful, scenic routes and the auto train is very popular,” said Connell.
For an extra fee, vacationers from up north can bring their car with them to Florida on the auto train. There is daily service in both directions from Lorton, Va. to Sanford, Fla. The train leaves Lorton at 4 p.m. and arrives in Sanford at 8 a.m. the next day.
In the south, Amtrak isn’t used by the business traveler as much as up north. Connell said the most popular route is Washington, D.C. to New York.
“If you have a meeting in New York, you can leave at 6 a.m. and be there by 9 a.m. It drops you off in the center of the city,” she said.
Connell said the trains are equipped with several electrical outlets per car for those who need to use their lap tops. However, they do not have Internet capabilities.
“That’s our No. 1 suggestion. We are working on it for the northeast,” said Connell.
Elaina Pagan came to Jacksonville to visit her daughter and took the train for one simple reason.
“Because it was cheaper,” she said, adding the cost of the one-way fare was $91.
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