Travelers across the Midwest are taking the train in record numbers, according to FY 2010 ridership and revenue numbers released by Amtrak this month. Almost 2.8 million people took the train on short-distance corridor service within the region last year – an 8 percent increase over FY 2009.

"These numbers confirm what state and federal officials are increasingly realizing – expanding and improving passenger rail service makes sense for the Midwest,” said Illinois Rep. Elaine Nekritz, chair of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC). “Over the past five years, ridership on the Midwest’s shorter-distance corridors has grown 55 percent.”

Since 2005, MIPRC has been looking at what Amtrak’s ridership numbers mean for the Midwest. During the past five years, ridership growth on regional passenger rail routes in the Midwest has been robust.