The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 12, 2002, Image 8

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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-
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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
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The Aggies 1
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The Aggies’
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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
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