The first time I rode Amtrak Boston to New York in 1975, the coach fare was $12.00. A Levi's denim jacket cost the same amount; I have made a comparison over the years, and they always seem about the same price (today: jacket $50 to $70 online, Amtrak $52 to $89).
The first time I rode an Amfleet car (1977?) I was REALLY impressed. They were modern and clean, and yes the windows were small but in those days you didn't want to see the view of South Station anyway. The ride quality was orders of magnitude better than older equipment.
Thirty years later, there has been little improvement. I payed a huge amount (don't even WANT to remember) for two first-class Acela seats a few years ago; but I did not feel a sense of "WOW!!!" regarding the food, service, speed, or comfort. Regional and express train times have improved minimally over 30 years. South Station has finally been cleaned up, but I think it lost some tracks and utility space.
No doubt about it, building up corridor services and maintaining a national network will be expensive. So is the fare people pay for Acela! Did those folks expect a return on their investment for two inches seat width and twenty minutes' time saving? Maybe the operative term "competitive in the market place" is not applicable when it comes to transportation.
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." Daniel Burnham
Also keep in mind that the passenger fares in 1957 were kept lower by regulators who implied an internal cross-subsidy of passenger service by higher freight rates.
Amtrak's fastest Acela schedule between Washington and New York is 2 hours, 49 minutes. The quickest regional schedule is 3 hours, 12 minutes. The average Acela non-discount fare for an August 12th afternoon departure is $170 or 75.2 cents per mile; the average afternoon regional train coach fare for the same date is $49 or 21.7 cents per mile. A business class seat on the same regional train goes for $85 or 37.6 cents per mile.
In 1957, the year that I graduated from high school, the PRR's Afternoon Congressional clipped off the nearly 226 miles between Washington and New York in 3 hours, 35 minutes. The fare in a parlor car was $12.66 for the first class ticket, plus $2.59 for the seat, bringing the total to $15.25 or 6.7 cents per mile. The coach fare was $8.36 or 3.7 cents per mile.
Business class on the Acela costs 11.1 times the price of a similar experience on The Afternoon Congressional, which probably offered the best comparative accommodations to business class on the Acela. Business class on a regional train is nearly 5.6 times the cost of a parlor car seat on the Congressional. The cost of a coach seat on a regional train is 5.9 times the cost of a similar accommodation in 1957.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which probably is the best general indicator of inflation, increased 7.6 times since 1957. The business class experience on the Acela costs considerably more than the 1957 inflation adjusted price, but the cost of a coach seat and business class seat on a regional train costs less than the inflation adjusted prices. I suspect that an analysis of other corridors and fare structures would show similar results. Of course, the other corridors don't have an Acela class of service.
If Amtrak was able to charge prices that had kept pace with inflation, whilst maintaining the Acela spreads, it might be able to cover its operating costs, excluding the long distance trains? Unfortunately, inflation is not a determinate of current prices. It is pricing power, which is the ability to set prices to cover costs, generate a return for the shareholders, and remain competitive in the market place. The operative term is competitive in the market place. And this is where Amtrak runs into a problem, especially outside of the NEC and perhaps the California and Illinois corridors.
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