Amtrak's Cascades run again jumps in ridership.(National Railroad Passenger Corp.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Amtrak's Cascades is continuing to increase in popularity in the Pacific Northwest, as ridership for the train run jumped 14.3 percent in the first quarter of 2002, handling a record number of passengers.

The Cascades had 131,747 passenger trips from January through March of this year, breaking the record for that quarter.

Many stations in the Cascade corridor, which runs from Salem, Ore., to Vancouver, B.C., showed double-digit increases for use, said Gil Mallery, senior vice president of Amtrak West; he also reported that purchasing tickets online has increased 25 percent compared to the same period last year.