Over the past year, the number of Amtrak riders has dropped by about four percent throughout the state.
The Associated Press reports that about 1.3 million fewer passengers rode Amtrak trains from fiscal year 2014 to 2015.
Amtrak Spokesman Marc Magliari says the Chicago-Quincy route, which includes all Galesburg riders, saw a drop of two percent.
Magliari tells WGIL the decline in passengers on the Galesburg routes stem from the low cost of gasoline.
“We know that when gas prices go up, people start looking for alternatives,” Magliari says. “And we’re a great alternative in Western Illinois to Chicago. So likewise, it stands to reason that if gas prices go down, there could be fewer people that are looking for us.”
While low gas prices have an impact, Magliari says the bulk of the company’s decrease comes from construction on the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail, which accounts for most of Amtrak’s largest concentration of passengers.
That route alone saw a five percent dip. In 2014, more than 717,500 riders were recorded. In 2015, that number dropped to about 682,300.
By comparison, the more local Chicago-Quincy routes had 249,700 passengers in 2014 versus 244,400 passengers in 2015.
Other local lines saw declines as well. In Kewanee, the number of riders dropped from more than 17,000 to around 15,800, an eight percent fall. Macomb fared better with a two percent drop, falling from 72,500 riders to 71,200.
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