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Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING – According to the Amtrak Consolidated Ridership and Ticket Revenue year-end report, East Lansing ridership on Amtrak’s Blue Water line increased by nearly 15 percent in 2010 over 2009.

Total boardings and deboardings for the East Lansing station were 58,529 in Fiscal Year 2010 (September 2009-September 2010), up from 50,953 in Fiscal Year 2009 (September 2008 to September 2009).

This news comes on the heels of an announcement made this past January, stating that East Lansing’s ridership hit an all-time high in FY 2009.

“The latest report from Amtrak illustrates that East Lansing’s ridership on the Blue Water line is steadily climbing on a year-to-year basis, with these most recent numbers representing our region’s highest overall ridership in the history of the Blue Water line,” East Lansing Community Development Analyst Lori Mullins said.

“It further shows that we have a population here in the region that is increasingly adopting alternative forms of transportation.”

In addition to East Lansing’s increase in ridership, Amtrak’s report indicated that overall ridership on the Blue Water line increased 19 percent in FY 2010 over FY 2009 and 35 percent in September 2010 over September 2009. All three of Michigan’s Amtrak routes (Blue Water, Pere Marquette and Wolverine) experienced increased ridership by a combined 23.6 percent for the month of September, with the Blue Water line leading the way.

“We believe the strong support for passenger travel at the East Lansing station and along Amtrak’s Blue Water line is evidence that people are choosing to travel closer to home, with local and regional destinations,” said Therese Cody, MDOT Office of High Speed Rail.

“People value transportation choices and train travel seems to fit their needs because of its convenience and comfort.”

Amtrak’s Blue Water line connects nine Michigan cities from Port Huron to Chicago.

The line stops in East Lansing each morning (going westbound) and evening (going eastbound) at 8:28 and 9:29, respectively.

East Lansing’s Amtrak train station is located at 1240 S. Harrison Road.

- From Amtrak

Post Link: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20101024/WILLIAMSTON08/10240502/1004/NEWS03/