This morning, my daughter cam home to visit from college; she travelled from Washington to Connecticut by Amtrak. I have to believe that the Amtrak budget is one which will benefit mightily from the high price of fuel. By my calculation, it is now a bit less expensive to make this trip by train than by car. Obviously, if you have many people traveling, the cost advantage still lies with the car. Also, if you travel on the super express trains or go first class, the cost is greater. Still, it has been a long time since I can remember it being less expensive to take the train than to drive.
One would hope that this change in the relative costs would lead to a marked rise in train ridership, and this appears to be the case. In July, Amtrak's revenue on the Northeast corridor (Boston-Washington) was up over 15% compared to last year. Who knows, maybe some day, Amtrak will be able to turn a profit.
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