Amtrak transported a record 737,537 riders, up 1.9 percent compared with 2011 Thanksgiving period, when the prior record was set. In addition, on Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving, Amtrak posted the single-busiest day in its history at 140,691 riders.
Ticket revenue in the period soared 8.4 percent to a best-ever $56.1 million, Amtrak officials said in a prepared statement.
Amtrak served the same number of riders as a year ago in the Northeast Corridor, which continues to recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy. Ridership grew 3.4 percent on state-supported and other short distance routes, and 0.8 percent on long distance services during the period.
"Amtrak is a key element of the regional response to Sandy and it was critical for us to restore service and operate our full and expanded schedule to connect families for the holiday," said President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman.
Amtrak accommodated additional riders by operating extra trains in the Northeast Corridor, Chicago hub, Pacific Northwest and California. Also, the railroad added capacity to many other trains in its 46-state national network.
In addition, Amtrak partnered with VIA Rail Canada Inc., which provided several rail cars to make additional seats available on Northeast Corridor trains and on the Albany, N.Y.-Montreal segment of the Adirondack service.
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