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Hassles of Air Travel Push Passengers to Amtrak

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[quote user="Murray"] From today's New York Times: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/hassles-of-air-travel-push-passengers-to-amtrak.html?_r=1&hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/hassles-of-air-travel-push-passengers-to-amtrak.html?_r=1&hp</a> [/quote] This is a good article. It highlights my view that passenger trains make sense in relatively short, high density corridors.  The author, however, made a few misstatements. The Acela does not make money.  Neither does the NEC.  The Acela, because of its premium fares, covers its operating costs and helps off set the operating loses of the other NEC trains.  How much?  Actually, we don't know since Amtrak stopped showing the route results, claiming that it is working on a new accounting system.  When the capital, interest, and ancillary costs are added to the mix, none of Amtrak's routes make money.  A business has to cover all of its costs to be successful. Amtrak does not own the NEC.  It owns approximately 360 of the 457 miles between Washington and Boston. The writer also misstates the share of the air/rail commercial market enjoyed by Amtrak between New York and Washington.  The implication is that Amtrak has the lion's share of the New York to Washington market.  This is probably not correct. It has the lion's share of the New York - Washington market, which would include passengers traveling from New York to Philadelphia or Trenton to Washington, which is different than the end point to end point market.   The article is encouraging. With a bit of fare tweaking, coupled with better labor contracts (productivity, compensation, etc.) and modern management techniques, the NEC could probably cover all of its operating costs and make a substantial contribution to the capital costs. Providing a link to a newspaper article can present a problem. For example, when I activated the link to the article, I was told that it was my last free article for the month.  Had I already exceed the freebies, I would not have been able to read the article. I don't intend to subscribe to the NY Times.  Or if I link you to a Dallas Morning News article that is for subscribers only, you would not be able to read it unless you are a DMN subscriber.  Just a point for the participants to keep in mind as more and more news outlets are attempting to recover the cost of their on-line editions.
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