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AMTRAK not marketing Cresent route properly

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[quote user="Phoebe Vet"] It comes through Charlotte a little after 2 AM in both directions.  I take it from time to time and it is always pretty full.  It always amazes me how many people get on and off here at such an inconvenient time.  I wonder how many people would use it if it came through in the daytime. Even with that, though, when I tell people that we took a train to (wherever) the usual response is "we have trains?  Where is the station?"  Amtrak needs to spend some money on advertising.[/quote] In FY08 Amtrak spent $98.1 million on Sales and Advertising compared to $83.2 million in FY07.  Within these amounts, $43.2 million in FY08 and $34.3 million in FY07 were devoted exclusively to advertising.  This was a 25.9 per cent increase in Amtrak's advertising spend for FY08, which outpaced most other expense categories.  It is frequently difficult to separate sales and advertising. At least some of the advertising for state supported trains is hoisted by Amtrak, which is covered in the state reimbursements paid to Amtrak for operations and ancillary services. No matter what spin (advertising) is put on the service, most people are not going to get up in the middle of the night to take a passenger train when they can fly or drive in the morning. Moreover, most business people who have access to good air service are not going to spend two to four hours on a train when they can fly to their destination in an hour or two. Leisure travellers will find most state supported trains to be a reasonable option, as will some business travelers over short distances if the service is frequent.  Additional advertising may be warranted if it is directed towards these groups.
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