Amtrak breaks ridership record with 31.2 million passengers in 2012

Amtrak carried more passengers in its 2012 fiscal year than any previous year in its history, the company said Wednesday.

Republicans in the House have hammered Amtrak for being "inefficient" for most of the year, and have promised to continue railing against the company after the November elections.

But the national passenger rail service announced Wednesday that it carried 31.2 million passengers through the Sept. 30 end of the 2012 fiscal year, a record high for the railway.

"We are proud to have served more than 31.2 million passengers this year, setting a new ridership record," the company said in a tweet. "Thank you for choosing #Amtrak!" 

Amtrak said last month that its ridership for the year was up 3.4 percent even before the final month of the fiscal calendar September was counted. The company's previous ridership record was 30.2 million passengers in 2011.

Amtrak has said it has set a new ridership record in nine out of 10 years since 2002. The company said last month its ridership increased 44 percent in that time frame, not counting the 2012 numbers.

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