Riding the rails is as popular as it's ever been, at least for Amtrak.
Ridership for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington reached 11.4 million passengers, the second-best year for the corridor, despite service interruptions when Superstorm Sandy slammed into New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last October, flooding tunnels and tracks.
The northeast corridor outpaces air travel for the same region, a reversal of the way things were about a decade ago.
Overall, the nation's passenger railroad network carried 31.6 million riders during the 2013 federal budget year.
"It's our 10th annual ridership record in the last eleven years,” said.
Amtrak's long-distance routes recorded their best ridership in 20 years with 4.8 million passengers.
Ticket revenues also increased to a record $2.1 billion. Amtrak relies on federal subsidies for a small share of its operating expenses.
