In the news: Tim Hoeffner, administrator of the Michigan Department of Transportation's Office of High-Speed Rail

From the Lansing State Journal

The East Lansing Amtrak station was a busy place Nov. 24 – the day before Thanksgiving – as travelers crowded aboard Chicago-bound trains.

Tim Hoeffner braved cold weather along with the other passengers. The administrator for the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of High-Speed Rail was on hand to talk about Amtrak’s ridership and other transportation issues.

“Part of the reason that we’re having that record ridership is because Amtrak has added cars to the trains so they have more capacity,” he said.

Most of the national passenger railroad’s trains run on five or six coaches that sit 70 to 75 people each, Hoeffner said. On some days, such as the day before Thanksgiving, capacity could be more.

The number of passengers who used the national railroad’s East Lansing stop during fiscal 2010 that ended in September climbed 14.9 percent to 58,529, MDOT said. A year earlier, a record 50,953 passengers boarded or got off trains at the station at 1240 S. Harrison Road.

Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers

In the news: Tim Hoeffner, administrator of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of High-Speed Rail