Amtrak trains in NC set records

[Phoebe Vet]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/26/4416918/amtrak-trains-in-nc-set-records.html#.UmxYgvlJOAg  

The N.C. Department of Transportation says an annual report from Amtrak shows the state-supported Piedmont and Carolinian trains continued their runs as two of the most rapidly growing routes in the system.

According to the report, ridership on the Piedmont service increased by 4.7 percent to 170,266 and revenue increased 8.1 percent to more than $3.3 million.

Ridership on the Carolinian increased by 3.6 percent to 317,550, and revenue increased by 6.4 percent to more than $19.8 million during that same period.

The figures represent the fourth consecutive year of growth for both routes.

[oltmannd]

Good to see revenue up a multiple of ridership growth.  Most likely incremental revenue is covering incremental cost.

[Phoebe Vet]

NCRR gets no funds from NC.  They own the ROW and therefor get lease payments from CSX and NS.  NCRR owns the equipment used by the Piedmont and Amtrak owns the equipment used by the Carolinian.

[schlimm]

nice-looking!!

[Phoebe Vet]

Here are a couple more:

 

 

 

[daveklepper]

An all-grey interior is an acquired taste.  Not sure I like it.    A lttle color helps sometimes .  Still, very much in the Henry Dryfuss tradition.   Certainly is modern!

[oltmannd]

There's not much to not like about what NC is doing.  I really like the approach they took toward the equipment.  Basically, an Amfleet interior in rebuilt equipment - a good use of existing equipment.  No need to buy new!

[oltmannd]

Also like that they didn't bother to get a new fiberglass nose for 1755.  Well,  I don't like how it looks, but keep it rolling!  

[Phoebe Vet]

Actually, they did replace the damaged nose after it hit a tractor trailer loaded with bricks, but when it hit a tractor trailer loaded with automobiles a month later, they didn't have another spare nose.

Truck drivers are always playing chicken with trains around here.

[daveklepper]

Try to imagine that grey interior with very thin gold beading/striping outlining the edges of each seat, side, back, and cushion, and two thin gold strips running the length of the edge of the baggage racks. 

[Deggesty]

daveklepper

An all-grey interior is an acquired taste.  Not sure I like it.    A lttle color helps sometimes .  Still, very much in the Henry Dryfuss tradition.   Certainly is modern!

It beats that horrible combination of purple and? that Amtrak used in its early days.

[schlimm]

Deggesty

It beats that horrible combination of purple and? that Amtrak used in its early days.

Sure does.  But that was so "70's" with disco, etc.

[daveklepper]

I agree with both the above comments.   But the modification I have proposed should make the car elegant, yet still restrained and modern,  The passengers would feel better, think they are being pampered more.

Think about just what "public accommodation" is often only grey without redeaming color!

I may have worked as an acoustical consultant, but I did work directly with some of the very best architects, the USA produced:  Yamasaki, Saarinen, Ed Barnes, Philip Johnson, Nils Schweizer, Harry Weese, even Frank Lloyd Wright's office.  Some of their esthetic sensibility was bound to rub off on me.   (Yamasaki was NOT Japanese, born in the USA and descended from a family from Japan.)

[Anonymous]

"NCRR gets no funds from NC.  They own the ROW and therefore get lease payments from CSX and NS.  NCRR owns the equipment used by the Piedmont and Amtrak owns the equipment used by the Carolinian."

According to the 2012 Annual Report, NCRR received $2,004,821 from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for additions to property and equipment.  In 2011 the NCDOT paid $2,666,693 for additions to property and equipment.  

In addition to the direct payments from the NCDOT, the company gets significant tax breaks from the federal and state governments.  As per Section 11146 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005, a substantial portion of the company’s income is exempt from federal and state income taxes.  

In 2012 the company completed three major construction projects, i.e. rebuild wooden trestles over Neuse River; improved corroding steel pipe piles on the railroad bridge over the Trent River in New Bern; and improved Eastern Grade Crossing protection on un-signalized or partially signalized grade crossings for 115 miles between CSX Junction in Selma and Morehead City to improve safety and speed.  The total cost of the projects was $8,954,930.  NCRR's share of the cost of these capital improvements was $3,511,822 or 39.2 per cent.  The Norfolk Southern Railroad (NSR) was the major partner on the first two projects; the NCDOT was the major partner on the third project. 

[Cricketer]

Intersting though colour schemes are is there any explanation of why the passenger numbers are increasing? More trains, more coaches on the trains, more people in the area making the same number of journeys per head, or the same number of people making more journeys per head?

[Phoebe Vet]

NCRR is owned by NCDOT and the funds they are disbursing are primarily Federal grants and lease payments from CSX and NS.

[Anonymous]

Phoebe Vet

NCRR is owned by NCDOT and the funds they are disbursing are primarily Federal grants and lease payments from CSX and NS. 

As per the company's annual report, the company is a stock company owned by the state of North Carolina. Its corporate structure is similar to Amtrak, i.e. it is a capital stock company, and the stock is held exclusively by a government entity. It gets substantial support from North Carolina's taxpayers, primarily in the form of capital infusions, as per my previous post, as well as substantial capital support from NSR.

NCRR has gotten substantial infusions of capital from the federal government, primarily in the form of ARRA funds, to upgrade the portions of its rights-of-way that will be used for high speed rail.  The funds from the federal government flow through NCDOT.

The initial claim that it gets no support from NC is incorrect.

[blue streak 1]

A very exact survey will be needed to be done once a couple of items

1.  Once trip times are again reduced the total numbe of passengers on each train needs comparing.

2.  The average passenger distance of each train needs comparsion.

3.  Average time of passengers on train both before and after will show what tthe reduction in time does for the trains.

4.  Once an additional train is added the effect on passengers on present trains with the above metrics studied. 

5,  What the above  on new trains also needs looking at.

6.  The effects of additional service should be compared to what happed in California however both population density and citizen local attitudes also has to be considered.

7.  Passenger minutes saved may also be a measure ?

 8. a somewhat comparsion of the effects on NPN traffic by the introduction of Norfolk service may be applied for NC DOT ?

[schlimm]

Sam1

Phoebe Vet

NCRR is owned by NCDOT and the funds they are disbursing are primarily Federal grants and lease payments from CSX and NS. 

As per the company's annual report, the company is a stock company owned by the state of North Carolina. Its structure is similar to Amtrak. It gets substantial support from North Carolina's taxpayers, primarily in capital infusions, as per my previous post, as well as substantial capital support from CSX and NS. It has gotten substantial infusions of capital from the federal government, primarily through the ARRA.

The initial claim that it gets no support from NC is incorrect.

Capital infusions for infrastructure, clearly, which to me at least, is entirely appropriate, not unlike roads, sewers, bridges, and airport infrastructures.  We need them to maintain/increase productivity as a nation, to enhance the economy for all.    But it appears there is not much subsidy (less as time passes)  for operating expenses.

[Anonymous]

schlimm

Sam1

Phoebe Vet

NCRR is owned by NCDOT and the funds they are disbursing are primarily Federal grants and lease payments from CSX and NS. 

As per the company's annual report, the company is a stock company owned by the state of North Carolina. Its structure is similar to Amtrak. It gets substantial support from North Carolina's taxpayers, primarily in capital infusions, as per my previous post, as well as substantial capital support from CSX and NS. It has gotten substantial infusions of capital from the federal government, primarily through the ARRA.

The initial claim that it gets no support from NC is incorrect.

Capital infusions for infrastructure, clearly, which to me at least, is entirely appropriate, not unlike roads, sewers, bridges, and airport infrastructures.  We need them to maintain/increase productivity as a nation, to enhance the economy for all.    But it appears there is not much subsidy (less as time passes)  for operating expenses.

schlimm

Sam1

Phoebe Vet

NCRR is owned by NCDOT and the funds they are disbursing are primarily Federal grants and lease payments from CSX and NS. 

As per the company's annual report, the company is a stock company owned by the state of North Carolina. Its structure is similar to Amtrak. It gets substantial support from North Carolina's taxpayers, primarily in capital infusions, as per my previous post, as well as substantial capital support from CSX and NS. It has gotten substantial infusions of capital from the federal government, primarily through the ARRA.

The initial claim that it gets no support from NC is incorrect.

Capital infusions for infrastructure, clearly, which to me at least, is entirely appropriate, not unlike roads, sewers, bridges, and airport infrastructures.  We need them to maintain/increase productivity as a nation, to enhance the economy for all.    But it appears there is not much subsidy (less as time passes)  for operating expenses.

The capital infusions from the taxpayers for the NCRR are appropriate because there is a high probability that the users, primarily NS and Amtrak, will pay for them through user rentals, although Amtrak's payments are not likely to cover NCRR's marginal costs.  It is a good investment because of the projected returns.

NCRR's revenues cover its operating expenses.  It does not receive operating subsidies.  It had net income of $2.8 million in FY12 and $5.7 million in FY11.  In FY12 77 per cent of its revenues came from rentals, i.e. the user fees paid by NSR and Amtrak, and 88 per cent of its lease payments (rentals) came from NSR. NSR is committed to pay NCRR $11 million per year irrespective of whether runs any trains over the railroad. 

In May 2011 NCRR leased 2.7 miles of its right-of-way to Charlotte to extend the light rail system to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  The lease payments will be approximately $235,000 per year, which like a number of its other lease grants is a drop in the bucket.  However, those drops add up to more than $2 million per year.

It relies on it principal partners (NCDOTand NSR) for significant capital contributions as per its annual report.

As an aside, there is no mention of CSX in the company's annual report.  If CSX uses the line, it must be paying rentals to NSR, which is responsible for the operation of the railroad, and NSR is subsequently flowing foreign carrier rentals through to NCRR in its lease payments.

[matthewsaggie]

I think the confusion comes from the fact that CSX dispatches about 10 miles of the NCRR from Fenton (several hundred feet east of the Cary station) to Boylan Jct. (several hundred feet west of the Raleigh station). The Seaboard and NCRR operated parallel tracks between these points and many moons ago entered into a joint trackage agreement operating them as a single double track section, with NCRR owning and  NS maintaining one track and the  CSX owning and maintaing the other. The agreement made the SAL/CSX the dispatching party. This agreement has lasted until today, though interestingly enough, at the time of the agreement the SAL operated the most trains over the line, but now the reverse is true with more NS and Amtrak trains off the NCRR, but CSX still dispatches.