Amtrak says it's on track for record ridership

Amtrak had more riders in March than it has had in any March in its 40 years of existence, the company said Thursday.
 
There were 137,000 more Amtrak riders this past month, the company said, which was the 17th straight month of increased ridership. That puts the company on track to break its annual ridership record, which was 28.7 million last year, Amtrak said.
 
From the first six months of the current fiscal year, October 2010 to March 2011, Amtrak ridership was up 5.9 percent over the same period from 2009 to 2010, the company said. 

"Our ridership has grown more than 36 percent since 2000, and I expect that trend to continue and, if gas prices continue to rise, to accelerate. Our only restriction will be the available capacity," Amtrak President Joe Boardman told a House Appropriations committee that was considering Amtrak's 2012 budget request.
 
Amtrak is seeking $2.2 billion for 2012.
 
President Obama has proposed putting Amtrak's funding under the Federal Railroad Administration instead of Congress.

The story was corrected at 5:04 p.m. from an earlier version.