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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2002)
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Always exceed her greatest expectations. ’ JavicI qarcJner's J EWELERS 4- GEMOLOGISTS 522 UNIVERSITY DRIVE E • COLLEGE STATION • 764-8786 Parent's Weekend Triple Header O GREAT O DAYS || SALES |# GREAT SALES SURER STORES Spring Clearance Sale 25% Off Selected Spring Merchandise 340 George Bush Drive Greek Clearance Sale 70% Off All Sorority Merchandise 907-C Harvey Road $10 Stuff-A-Bag Sale $10 Buys the Bag-You Stuff it Full 303 College Ave ROTHER'S BOOKSTORES 8A Friday, April 12, 2002 m THE BAITAf Amtrak rivals East Coast air shuttlt BOSTON (AP) — Seven months after the terrorist attacks, Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express train appears to be running neck-and-neck with the Delta and US Airways shuttles along the heavily traveled Boston-to-Washington corridor. Backed-up airport security lines, fear of flying, and the comforts of the new train are among the reasons given for the steadily growing number of business travelers trying the 15-month-old Acela service. The train, which serves Boston, New York and Washington, got a big boost after Sept. 1 1. And according to the best available records from Amtrak and the airlines, the advantage appears to be holding, with the shuttles yet to rebound fully from the terrorist attacks. The attacks, though tragic, “did give us the opportunity to showcase our product and the amenities we offer." said Amtrak spokesperson Karen Dunn. She said Acela ridership is 5.5 percent ahead of projections for the current fiscal year. Still, Acela’s initial projections of 3.9 million annual riders at full capacity look rosy. And nobody knows how Acela Express will fare once the novelty wears off and airport lines shrink. Amtrak also faces enormous financial problems. Acela ridership stood at 96,037, or 218 passengers per train, in August, the month before the attacks. It jumped to 201,176 or 340 per train, in October, according to Amtrak figures. The numbers dipped in the fall as the airlines rebounded and Reagan National Airport near Washington reopened, but they passed 200.0(X) again in February and last stood at 219,917, or about 300 per train. The airlines do not release shuttle statistics, but Bureau of Transportation Statistics tilings show that last December, Delta and US Airways reported 215,366 passenger boardings on the shuttle routes, down from 330,040 in December of 2(XX). Airline figures for the first three months of this year are not available. But both airlines acknowledge that traffic remains below its pre-Sept. 11 level. The airlines are trying to respond. US Airways spokesperson David Castelveter said an express security line has passenger check-in down to 20 minutes. Delta is tripling its number of electronic check-in kiosks and rebuilding its shuttle terminal in Boston. “We need to convince our customers that the airport experience really is something that can be hassle-free,” Castelveter said. Acela Express trains use an advanced tilting system to take turns at higher speeds. But because of track conditions, they reach 150 mph for only 18 miles in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and go no faster than 135 mph between Washington and New York. That cuts less than 30 minutes off both routes, compared with Amtrak’s more conventional trains, to about three hours, 30 min utes on the New York-Boston run and 2:44 between New York and Washington. So Amtrak has tried to lure customers with comfort able seats, leg room and audio outlets. Amtrak’s rising ridership Amtrak’s Acela ridership has increased while US Airways am I Delta Air Lines shuttles still have not fully rebounded fromtbe Sept. 11 attacks. US Airways, Delta Air Lines shuttles Ridershipfigures, by route Boston-To-Washington 100.000 80,000 60.000 40.000 20.000 Boston-to-N*w York 250.000 200.000 150.000- 100.000 50.000 0 1 Ne w YorMo-Washira, 160,000—j, 140,000—4 120,000 4__ 100,000 80.000 60,000 40.000 20,000 ~~4 ,&M b in thret By 2001 2001 2001 SOURCES Amtrak; Bixonu of Transportation Stalisttcs Amtrak runs 10 daily Acela Express round-trips between 1 York and Boston and 13 between Washington and New YatJ airlines offer 14 to 17 round-trips daily. After a two- jplay, the Texas 12 Confere red-hot Kansas ; phree-game sei The No. 16 A eir eight-game ss than stell |;ainst the sevei A&M groun lainst the Couj It was the Ag ven-game win “It was our f ich is good,’ ihnson. “They' ht off the bat d they played fense. “We don’t h; A next-day, same-day return Acela ticket between Bostaj 8 et S1X or New York cost $236 on Amtrak’s Website this week. Acompr* 111 ,nU ’ c ° Bight on both airlines cost $411. For business travelers. Sept. 11 altered the train-versus|i equation. “It boils down to. How much time is it going totake^jj leave my office in Boston to when I arrive in New York? Thomas Nulty, president of Navigant International, anEnglewl Colo.-based company. Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalitions research shows that among business travelers who have! flying 25 percent or more, 56 percent cited airport hassles as tkj 1 reason, followed by costs at 27 percent. Safety was a distant A Gas truck crashes into Tunisian synagogue a non-produc The offense [anted to addre nference play, suits. The Aggies 1 tint into non-c flate, hitting . oring only 12 A&M has pi< e of its hittir m-conference [fits season. The Aggies’ [ames against B fix teams are se TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A truck filled with natural gas crashed into a wall surrounding a synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba on Thursday, killing five people and injuring about 20, the nation’s official news agency reported. The TAP agency said the blast appeared accidental. The explosion killed the driver of the truck, a police officer and three others, the agency said. Perez Trabelsi, the presi dent of the historic Ghriba synagogue, identified the vic tims as four German tourists and the truck driver. The German Foreign Ministry had no immediate information. Trabelsi said the syna gogue’s facade was damaged. Helicopters brought the injured, who suffered from bums, to Djerba’s regional hospital. Mt’diter,- ,TALV Tunis 1 Explosion at a synagogue killed five people Djerba TUNISIA LIBYA ALGERIA 100 mi \,y 0 100 km SOURCES: Associated Press, ESRI AP Djerba is a popular tourist destination off the southeast coast of the North African nation. Its blue-and-white Ghriba synagogue, set in the middle of an olive grove, is a site of pilgrimage for Jews and is built on the foundations of one of the oldest synagogues in Africa. It was open to visitors at the time of the blast Thursday. Security services and judicial authorities opened investigations to find the causes of the blast. As tensions have escalated in the Middle East, synagogues in Europe, particularly in France, have been attacked. In the most serious case, a syna gogue in the southern French city of Marseille was burned to the ground March 3 l. Tunisia, a predominantly Muslim nation with a population of about 7.5 million, is not known as a hotbed of Islamic ten® | Tens of thousands ^ lived in Djerba in theW®! century, hut tensions®/^ world prompted rnffly!® ? Toriav the Jewish wWl numbers about 2.000. P According to tradition] first Jews came to Dp biblical times, bringing! from the ancient tem| Jerusalem that was del by the Babylonians in 5f The stone is kept in a j Djerba’s synagogue, j The first documented! deuce of a Jewish comiBwj Djerba dates from the I tury A.D. By the I8thc«j Djerba was an important^ cultural center and ho| traders, craftsmen and nfl SUN MEADOWS PH II AGGIES OR FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS! Just in time for the 2002 Fall Semeste Starting at $ 116,000.00 Low move-in. 3/2/2, All Brick Just minutes from TAMU or CSb" M freshman I Pperdine at the KM Custom Homes offers the best value for the dollar. All brick exteriors, built to the Good Cents program standards for an energy efficient home. Privacy fenced backyard, full sod front yards and double car garages. Off Graham Road in College Station. Call for full list of features and other plans available. Call Mike Caldwell ‘77, GRI, CRS (979) 777-5446, (979) 846-2894 Email: mikecald@tca.net • 5 a COVEbTIRX GLEN REAL TY Sale does n