Tighter airport security and higher gas prices appear to be boosting Amtrak ridership in the Northeast, the South and Midwest.
相对较高的航空保险费和燃油费促使Amtrak铁路公司在东北、南部和中西部地区的客流升温。

Trains in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New England saw double-digit jumps in ridership. Routes in the West saw the smallest increases, and trains in the Louisiana area had drops because of Hurricane Katrina.
北卡罗莱娜州、宾西法尼亚州和新英格的铁路客流成倍地增涨。相对而言，西部则增涨较少，而路易斯安娜地区由于受卡特里娜飓风的影响，铁路客流有所下降。

Amtrak, which serves a daily average of 69,000 riders on 300 trains, saw total ridership increase just over 1% in fiscal year 2006, which ended Sept. 30.Amtrak，
这家平均每天发送300对列车，运送69000名旅客的铁路公司，截止9月30日，其2006财政年发送旅客总量仅增涨了1%。

"We believe that some of the security concerns, people having some difficulty with flying, have sent some people to the train," says Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero. "Gas prices probably also had an impact."
“我们确信，一些人基于安全考虑不愿乘座飞机，这给铁路挽回了一部分客源。”Amtrak发言人Karina Romero说，“燃油价格也有一定的影响。”

Ridership on the Acela/Metroliner, the busiest trains of all running from Washington, D.C., to Boston, grew by 8.8%. The line had 2,668,174 riders in 2006, or 589 more passengers a day.
Acela/Metroliner线，一条最繁忙的，从华盛顿专区通往波士顿的线路，其客流量增涨了8.8%。在2006年，这条线路实现了2,668,174 个旅客发送量，平均每天了发送589个以上旅客。

The greatest growth rates occurred among the 23 short-distance routes where states contribute money to Amtrak and dictate routes.
最大的客流增涨发生在23条要由各州捐助的Amtrak公司或指令线路（？）的短线上。

Ridership on long routes dropped 1.3% mostly because of "less-than-acceptable on-time performance," Romero said. Worst was the Sunset Limited, from Orlando to Los Angeles, with a 36% drop after damages from Katrina and Rita.
而长线的客流则下降了1.3%，主要是因为时效因素，Romero 说。最为明显的是从奥兰多通往洛杉矶的Sunset Limited线，在遭受卡特里娜和丽塔飓风的破坏后，发送量下降了36%。

Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst, says airlines drove passengers to the train by reducing the number of seats available for shorter trips and raising the "walk-up price" of tickets on their shuttles.
Robert Mann，一位航空工业分析家说，各航线由于在他们的班机上减少短途旅客座位和提高叫醒服务费导致了一部分旅客流向铁路。

"The result is Amtrak becomes more convenient," Mann says. "You don't get the level of screening, if at all, in a train station compared to an airport."
“结果将使得Amtrak变得更加便利”Mann说，“可能到最后，你会发现火车站和机场没什么区别。”

Ronald Utt, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a think tank in Washington, D.C., says the increased ridership probably has more to do with Amtrak's continued use of taxpayer money to keep fares down on certain routes.
Ronald Utt，
一个来自遗产基金会和华盛顿区一个智囊团的资深级研究员。他说，客流的增涨将有利于Amtrak公司更好地利用纳税人的钱来降低这些线路的运输费用。

"People are willing to take a state-subsidized train as opposed to an unsubsidized bus," Utt says.
“人们更愿意乘座享受州补贴的火车，而不愿意座没有补贴的汽车”，Utt说。

In fiscal year 2005, Amtrak had revenues of $1.89 billion but expenses of $2.94 billion, requiring a $1.2 billion taxpayer subsidy from the U.S. government.
2005财政年，Amtrak收入18.9亿美元，支出29.4亿美元，需要政府从税收中拿出12.4亿美元作为补助。

Barry Ginsberg of Deer Park, N.Y., boarded an Acela train after a meeting in Washington.
纽约Deer Park的Barry Ginsberg，在华盛顿开完一个会后，登上了一趟去往Acela的火车，

"It's a lot less hassle and more comfortable," Ginsberg says. "When you figure how much in advance you have to get to the airport, it's a lot more convenient."
“少了些拥挤多了些舒适”Ginsberg 说，“当你想像去机场有哪些优势时，你会发现还是火车舒服”。