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AMTRAK Railway Age article
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<p>[quote user="blue streak 1"]</p> <p>Fairly good article about Texas Eagle and athe general financial condition of AMTRAK.</p> <p>One thing mentioned that we have not considered is that AMTRAK is meeting 85% of its operating costs ( not allocated ). All other forms of public transit --- Commuter rail, heavy rail type subway, light rail, buses including brt, etc ------- all have a lower rate. I'll let you see what figures are present.</p> <p><a href="http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/lyndon-henry/amtraks-texas-eagle-highlights-passenger-train-success.html?channel">http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/lyndon-henry/amtraks-texas-eagle-highlights-passenger-train-success.html?channel</a>= [/quote]</p> <p>I ride the Texas Eagle four or five times a year, usually between Temple and Dallas or Temple and San Antonio. I am familiar with the train.</p> <p>TEMPO has never been shy about putting a positive spin on the Eagle's numbers. Likewise they have never been reluctant to leave out some of the key numbers that tell the complete story.</p> <p>In FY11 ridership on the Eagle was up 4.3 per cent over FY 10 and revenues rose 7.7 per cent over the prior period. The Eagle's sleepers saw an increase of 4.3 per cent in passengers and 5.9 per cent in revenues. The FY12 numbers are estimates; Amtrak won't have verified numbers for 90 days. </p> <p>Here is what TEMPO does not like to acknowledge. In FY11 the Texas Eagle lost $30.9 million before depreciation, interest, and ancillary charges. This was on $26.7 million in revenues. Or to put it another way, the train had an operating ration of 116 per cent, which is a long way from 79 per cent or 85 per cent cited as Amtrak's overall recovery ratio in the article. The losses for all the long distance trains were equally dismal.</p> <p>Amtrak management claims that it recovered 79 per cent of its costs through the fare box in FY11. The 85 per cent recovery comes from other operations, primarily the company's ownership of Penn Station, 30th Street Station, and majority control of Washington Union Terminal Company. Unfortunately, since Amtrak is not a publicly held corporation, i.e. its shares are not listed on a public stock exchange, it does not have to report segment results. </p> <p>Amtrak is an intercity passenger service provider. Its commercial competitors are the commercial airlines and intercity bus companies. They cover all of their costs and generate a return for their shareholders. One can argue that they don't cover their fair share of the infrastructure that they use; an endless argument that probably will be going on 50 years from now, but they make money in the sense they they have taxable net income.</p> <p>Commuter rail, commuter buses (BRT and otherwise) are not intercity carriers. In most instances they function like utilities.They provide a vital public service for people who need transport and do not have an alternative. They are not in the same league with Amtrak.</p>
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