If you’re trying to get from midtown Manhattan to downtown Boston or Philly, there really is no faster way than hopping on Amtrak.
So as lines grow and hassles multiply at airports, it should come as no big surprise that riding the rails is more popular than ever with US travelers, especially on short routes.
Indeed, a new report from the Brookings Institute finds that "American passenger rail is in the midst of a renaissance," and the biggest growth is on routes of less than 400 miles.
The 31 million riders a year who ride Amtrak for short routes, like those on the two coasts and around Chicago, now make up fully 85% of all passengers on the train.
The study credits upgrades to tracks and stations, and cooperation with state governments, with helping to grow ridership on short-distance corridor routes by 55% in the past 15 years. That, in turn, pushed Amtrak’s ridership to an all-time high in 2012.
