The Daily Inter Lake

Whitefish had the biggest jump in numbers of Amtrak riders last year, and tourism leaders say marketing persistence is making the difference.

The Whitefish train station has long been the busiest Montana stop for the Empire Builder passenger train, and in 2006 ridership at that stop increased 9.4 percent, from 62,719 passengers in 2005 to 69,386 last year.

"We pitch Amtrak quite a bit" at regional tourism shows, said Jan Metzmaker, director of the Whitefish Visitors Bureau. "People still have this romantic image of going on the train. They love the train."

The visitors bureau's trade-show display prominently features Whitefish photographs that include the train, she said. Metzmaker also passes out two-for-one Amtrak coupons, which may be a ridership booster.

Glacier Country likewise passes out discount coupons at tourism shows in major cities.

"We just had a huge trade show in Seattle over the weekend where we promoted Amtrak," Glacier Country Executive Director Linda Anderson-Haines said. "We're working closely with Amtrak."

The resort town has capitalized on travel-writer press trips that bring in reporters to Whitefish. Just a month ago, ABC aired a national piece about Whitefish, in which the reporter rode Amtrak, Metzmaker said.

Whitefish had a 9 percent increase in 2005, and tourism leaders also cited promotional campaigns for that boost in ridership.

THE GLACIER Park stop at East Glacier and Essex were the only western Montana stops that dropped in ridership. East Glacier in 2005 had a record 18 percent jump in passenger numbers, but last year was down 9.2 percent, from 11,943 passengers in 2005 to 11,027 in 2006. Essex had roughly 400 fewer passengers.

Forest fires in the St. Mary area on the park's east side may have affected Amtrak ridership in that area, Anderson-Haines said.

National publicity about forest fires in national parks such as Glacier tends to keep some tourists away, she said, adding that she had reports from several hotels in and near Glacier that saw decreases in business because of the fires.

The Belton stop in West Glacier showed a modest increase in ridership, up nearly 700 passengers.

The number of park visitors was up 1.85 percent in 2006, with 1,972,804 visitors. That's about 35,00 more visitors than in 2005.

Glasgow, on the state's east side, was the only other Montana stop with a decrease in ridership. It had 132 fewer passengers.

All other Montana stops had slight increases. Total ridership for Montana was 152,319, up 9.3 percent from 142,783 in 2005. Over the past five years, Amtrak ridership has increased 7.2 percent.