Amtrak Thanksgiving travel surges as flyers switch to rail

Amtrak Thanksgiving travel is surging this year as Americans get ready to gather with family and friends, and some are looking beyond the usual choice of highways and airports.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Holiday traffic pushes riders toward Amtrak

As AAA is expecting more than 80 million travelers to get behind the wheel, freeways in Merced are already clogging up. At the same time, the FAA is calling this the biggest airline travel season in 15 years, so a share of North Valley residents are choosing Amtrak instead to sidestep holiday traffic and crowded terminals.

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Thanksgiving train travel with Amtrak draws long-distance riders

One of those passengers is UC Merced student Thomas Canty, who is heading home to San Diego for Thanksgiving. After years of driving the full eight hours himself, he says the holiday road trip has turned into a nightmare of heavy traffic and long stretches behind the wheel. For this Thanksgiving train travel, he sees the ticket as an economical option with reasonable prices and prefers paying for the comfort of being able to sit, relax and get some work done on the way.

While Canty was boarding, Los Banos native Eddie Esparza was stepping off an Amtrak train after his trip from Los Angeles. He says he has been riding the train for years, but he had never seen it as busy as it was on Wednesday: staff kept announcing that the train was sold out, the cars were packed, and some passengers had to stand.

This wave of Amtrak Thanksgiving travel also includes many long-distance journeys. According to Amtrak, about 81% of holiday trips will cover more than 250 miles, meaning most riders are traveling far beyond a short hop. Ken and Leslie Lanteigne are among them: they are making the trip from Portland, Oregon, to Yosemite National Park for their first visit. Their celebration may look different from a traditional Thanksgiving gathering, but their excitement about spending time with a loved one is just as big.

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