Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="blue streak 1"] The Feb 2009 Trains magazine had an article on Auto Train and its operation. It was stated that "Adding an extra couch when demand peaks  would help raise revenue without adding significant cost" [/quote] It would be interesting to know whether the author of the article had access to Amtrak's reservation information for the Auto Train.  Does he or she know how many times the train was sold out and, equally important, how many people were turned away who did not book on another date. For FY 2008 the Auto Train had an average load factor of approximately 62 per cent and a median of 60.8 per cent.  The standard deviation was 9.5 per cent.  I assumed six sleepers and four coaches, with 40 spaces in the sleepers (I eliminated the special bedroom) and 70 seats in the coaches. The average train load was 322 passengers with a median of 316.  The maximum train average was 400 passengers in July, whilst the minimum was 223 in September.  The maximum load factor was 76.8 per cent whilst the minimum was 42.9 per cent.  These numbers, plus the magnitude of the standard deviation, which predicts the probability and degree of straying from the mean, suggest that the train did not sell out on many occasions. It is possible to drown in an average of six inches of water.  Therefore, statistics are not a substitute for on the ground conditions.  But they suggest that Amtrak would want to take a hard look at actual booking data before adding additional capacity.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag