Amtrak's Mar 2009 report showed some improvement. 1.3% better locomotive availability. Passenger car availability the same. Revenue down 2,1% ridership down 10%. On time performance up 10% from last year. The two worse performers ( delay minutes per 10,000 miles) are CSX and UP. However the AMTRAK performance on AMTRAK tracks was a dismal 28% not on time. Regional Ridership up on only Keystone , Heartland, Hoosier. Most drop in ridership Carolinian and Piedmont due to cancellation of many trips due to NS trackwork..
LD ridership Eagle and Sunset up rest same. except Starlight restoration not meaniful. Worse regional OT was Carolinian @ on 65 % on time. Worse LD on time was Silver star / Meteor, Palmetto, Auto train. AS I see it no excuse for CSX to still be delaying with their downturn in freight traffic. Best LD on time City of New Orleans.
Overhaul work still not speeded up. A source that I do not completely trust said it is for a lack of critical parts not ordered last year. Anyone know otherwise? Amfleet 14 completed ( 1 less than planned). Beech grove 15 (dn 4) including 2 superliners (0 dn).
A good chunk of the reason for the decline in passengers for the Carolinian and Piedmont is that they were annulled about a half dozen times each in March due to trackwork.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Don Oltmannd: Thanks I forgot about that and have edited post.
Amtrak's fiscal year runs from October 1st to September 30th. The Year to Date (YTD) numbers for March are significant because they give management six months of data that can be used to project the likely results for the year. Equally important, the forecasts provide management with the picture necessary to adjust operations, where feasible, to manage better Amtrak for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Management is predicting FY09 total revenues will be down 3.35 per cent compared to FY08. The decline is driven by a decrease in ridership as a result of the slower economy and lower gas prices. Interestingly, although ridership on the NEC is down 9.5 per cent and the state supported and other short distance corridors is off by 1 per cent, ridership on the long distance trains is up by 5.8 per cent. Ticket revenue is down 9 per cent for the NEC, and 1.4 per cent for the state supported corridors, but it is up 7.6 per cent for the long distance trains.
Total expenses are projected to be 3.1 per cent higher in FY09 than FY08, due primarily to adjustments to depreciation, which is a non-cash item, and other expenses.
The FY09 net loss is expected to be 19.3 per cent higher than the FY08 loss. Like most capital intensive companies with restrictive labor contracts, Amtrak is not able to shed costs quickly in an economic downturn, thereby realizing a greater loss than would otherwise be the case.
For the first six months of FY09 the NEC trains lost 1.2 cents per passenger mile compared to an operating profit of 6.6 cents in FY08. The Acela earned 12.6 cents per passenger mile before interest and depreciation, down from 20.0 cents for the same period during FY08. But the regional and special trains, with losses of 8.9 cents and 15.7 cents, wiped out the positive numbers for the Acela.
The state supported trains lost 14.4 cents per passenger mile in FY09 compared to 13.4 cents in FY08. The biggest dollar losses were racked up by the Keystone Service, Empire Service, and Pacific Surfliner, whilst the Springfield to New Haven, Keystone Service, Empire Service, Wolverines, and Hoosier State lost more than 20 cents per passenger mile. Only the San Joaquin's, Washington-Newport News, Kansas City/St. Louis, and Non NEC Special Trains made a positive contribution after direct costs.
The loss per passenger mile for the long distance trains decreased from 26.2 cents per passenger mile in FY08 to 25.7 cents in FY09, but the dollar loss increased from $294.8 million in FY08 to $303.5 million in FY09. The long distance trains, which carried approximately 15 per cent of Amtrak's passengers during the first six months of FY09, accounted for approximately 71 per cent of Amtrak's operating loss before interest, depreciation, and miscellaneous charges.
The deal is that the LD trains lose money hand over fist even if the tracks are provided "for free."
A large sector of the train advocacy community is operating "on autopilot" (or on "rails without a switch?") as it were, relying on the argument "everyone is getting some kind of subsidy" in the usual op-ed pieces, letters to newspaper editors, letters to Congress, and so on.
That argument is going to "run out of steam" to mix another metaphor. At some point people beyond the usual suspects (i.e. "right-wing think tanks") will catch on that some trains require subsidies that are large compared with everything else.
That some trains are a high-cost mode of providing transportation is an issue that at some point the advocacy community is going to have to come to terms with rather than simply allow that this is a "red herring" from "the train-hating right wing." We really need to identify the applications where trains are cost effective relative to alternatives, come up with better reasons for the levels of subsidy, or find ways to make trains cost less.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
INTERESTING ON THIS REPORT ESPECIALLY ON UNION PACFIC SERVICE.I RECENTLY COMPLETED AS VOLUNTEER STUDY OF THE 4 DAILY KANSAS CITY-ST LOUIS "RIVER RUNNER" SERVICE INCLUDING THE ANN RUTLEGE WHICH IS A THRU KANSAS CITY-CHICAGO TRAIN.
TO MY EXTREME SURPRISE AFTER MNITORING FOR OVER 39 DYS AT THE SUURBAN LEES SUMMIT,MO STATION (2ND STOP OUT OF KANSAS CITY NEXT TO LAST STP ON WESTBOUND) THE EASTBOUND TRAINS WERE ON TIME 98 % OF THE TIME,WHILE THE WESTBOND FROM ST.LOUIS AVERAGE 87% OF THE TIME,FOR ANOVERALL AVERAGE OF JUST OVER 90%.I DONT KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE DRAMATIC INCREASE SERVICE,BUT ISUSPECT SINCE THE MISSOURI LEGISLATUREGAVE UP AN ADDITIONAL 5.8. MILLION ABOVE OPERATING COSTS TO CONSTRUCT NEW SIDINGS,SPECIFICALLY NEAR CALIFORNIA,MO AND NOB NOSTER,MO WHICH ARE NOT FINISHED UP DECIDED (THE
I DONT KNOW UCH ABOUT .D.SERVICE,BUT ON THE 4 TRAINS BETWEEN KANSAS CIT AND STLOUIS INCLUDING THE THRU ANN RUTLEDGE TO CHCAGO,A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN OT SCHEDULES WAS QUITEIMPRESSIVE.ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS I RECENTLY OVEWR THE PAST 30 DAYS OR SO FROM THE SUBURBAN EES SUMMIT,MO STATION.2ND STOP EASTBOUNS AND NEXT TO LAST STOP WESBOUND. EASTBOUND AN UNBELIVABLE BUT TRUE 98 % ON TIME PERFORMANCE,WESTBOUND FROM ST.LOUIS ABOUT 89 % FOR AN OT PERFORMANCE OF JUST OVER 90%.THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY ON SHORT HAUL TRAINS.
I HAVENT TE FOGGIEST NOTION HOW THIS HAPPENED BUT I SUSPECT THAT SINCE THE MSSOURI LEGISLATUE GAVE UP AND EXTRA 5.3.MILLION LUS 3.0.MILLION IN FRD AID TO CONSTRUCT NEW PASSING SIDINGS,NOTYET FINISHED THE DISPATCHES WHO CONTROL MOVEMENT HAVE ALLOWED THE PASSENGER TRAINS TO OBTAIN THIS IMPROVENT,OVER THE LAST YEAR WHEN BEFORE THE TRAINS WERE LUCKY TO RUN ON TIME ONLY ABOUT 40%
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