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Ridership on Amtrak’s long-distance trains continues to rise as the national intercity passenger railroad continues to implement the multi-year Route Performance Improvement (RPI) program.

In fiscal-year 2009, Amtrak’s 15 long-distance trains registered ridership of 4.2 million, up slightly from FY2008’s 4.17 million, but up 13 percent from FY2006’s 3.7 million, the railroad announced on Monday. In addition, Amtrak’s on-time performance improved from FY2006’s 30 percent to 75.1 percent in FY2009.

The turnaround, in part, can be attributed to the RPI process Amtrak initiated in 2007, according to the railroad. The process focuses on all elements of train service on several routes, such as employee-passenger interactions, staffing levels, food service and amenities, equipment cleanliness and reliability, stations and schedules.

Amtrak currently is working on a plan to improve the performance of the Sunset Limited, which operates between Los Angeles and New Orleans, and increase service from tri-weekly to daily. The railroad plans to extend the daily Texas Eagle running between Chicago and San Antonio to L.A., and establish connecting service between New Orleans and San Antonio. The change would trim transit time to the West Coast by seven hours, increase ridership by more than 100,000 and improve financial performance, Amtrak officials said in a prepared statement.

This year, Amtrak has worked to expand the RPI process to evaluate additional financial and operational issues, and continue to measure customer satisfaction. The railroad is focusing on the five poorest-performing long-distance routes: the Sunset Limited; Texas Eagle; Cardinal between Chicago, Cincinnati and New York City; Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington, D.C.; and California Zephyr between Chicago and Emeryville, Calif.