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[quote user="Dakguy201"] [quote user="Sam1"] . The average end point to end point load factor for the Eagle was approximately 71 per cent in FY12 and FY11. [/quote] I know you are our best reporter of statistical data, but that doesn't pass my sniff test.   I take that to mean that 71% of the Eagle tickets are for travel between Chicago and San Antonio.  In particular considering the number of major cities on that route (St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin) I just don't think it probable, although the end point stats may be bulked up by passengers traveling further on the Sunset. .[/quote] The average load factor means that 71 per cent of the seats were occupied somewhere between Chicago and San Antonio.  It includes the seats in the sleeping cars. Most of the people who ride the Texas Eagle travel between intermediate stations served by the Eagle or those from a connecting train. I don't know the per cent that travel all the way from Chicago to San Antonio or vice versa. However, if the California Zephyr's experience is an indicator for the long distance trains, only four or five per cent of long distance train travelers ride from end point to end point. Although most of my trips on the Eagle were between the points described above, I have taken the train to Chicago at least five times and to LAX at least six times.  If my observations are accurate, the heaviest passenger loads (load factor) on the Eagle occur between Chicago and St. Louis and between Dallas and San Antonio.  Between St. Louis and Dallas I have seen instances where the number of people suffering through an all night coach experience was no more than five or six per car. Last Thursday I rode the train from San Antonio to Temple. The Eagle has has approximately 230 coach seats and 58 sleeping car seats for sale. During 2012 an average of 96 passengers boarded the train in San Antonio. So the typical load factor out of San Antonio would be 33.4 per cent. On Thursday approximately 45 people boarded the train in San Antonio. It appeared to take on a substantial number of people at Austin and approximately 25 people were waiting to board the train in Temple. At the breakfast table in the dinner I sat with three other people.  One lady was going to Oklahoma City, which meant that she was transferring to the Heartland Flyer in Fort Worth.  The other party (mother and son) were going to Dallas. He is in the sixth grade, and this was his first train ride. I encouraged him to get his mother to take him to the NEC for a ride on the Acela.  I am not sure how happy she was about the suggestion.  When going to Dallas I usually ride coach, which gives me an opportunity to meet lots of nice people as well as some people one would not invite home. When coming from San Antonio to Taylor or Temple, I book a roomette. That way I can avoid having to stand in line for half an hour to get a good coach seat. Most of the people that I have met on the northbound train over the past five years are going to Fort Worth or Dallas, with a few traveling on as far as Little Rock.  Southbound most of the people are headed to the Alamo City.
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