Doretha Royal from Buffalo rode Amtrak’s steel wheels to Temple to visit her brother because she is “fed up with flying.”

And a group of librarians traveling from Killeen to Dallas for a convention opted for the train over the plane because they loathe Dallas traffic.

For the last six months, travelers like these have pushed up traffic at the Temple Amtrak depot by 24 percent over the same period the previous year. Station manager Dan Stephens said customers often relate first-hand their reasons for choosing Amtrak over flying or driving.

“I hear it out the window,” said Stephens, pointing across the ticket counter. “The high price of gasoline, of course, congestion on the highways, and the problems that the airlines are having right now” are affecting rail traffic.

For a period of three days this April, American Airlines canceled 1,670 flights because of safety concerns.

The Killeen librarians purchased Temple to Dallas round-trip tickets for $38 each. But several factors made their choice to ride Amtrak an easy one.

“Economy, convenience, camaraderie,” said Julie McCormack, a Killeen Independent School District 20-year employee. “Gas prices are out of reach. If we had taken a Suburban, or even if we had carpooled, or taken individual vehicles, it would have cost us quite a bit more.”

But it’s not just Temple where more travelers are choosing Amtrak, a government subsidized passenger rail that travels through 46 states. Overall traffic on the Texas Eagle - which runs from San Antonio to Temple to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and into Arkansas - is up 4.9 percent for the last six months. And ridership is up 11.5 percent nationally for the same period, said Marc Magliari, media relations manager with Amtrak. He suspects high gas prices play a major role in increased traffic.

“When gas make a move and stays there, people look at other options. We’re happy to have those customers,” Magliari said.

Back at the Temple depot, Stephens said as Baby Boomers age, he expects to see more of them filling seats on the Texas Flyer. The 35-year Amtrak veteran and Temple native believes passenger rail will play an important role in America’s future.

“Long-distance trains are not dinosaurs,” Stephens said. “With the energy crunch, we can move the most people with the least environmental impact and least amount of fuel.”

But for the librarians, there is an added benefit to riding the rails. Ms. McCormack said her group enjoys the freedom of moving about the passenger cars, talking on cell phones, or opening up their laptop computers whenever they want.

“Just about anything you can do at home you can do on the train.”