carnej1 daveklepper I beleive they also run two regularly scheduled trains. Possibly their losses are made up by the cruise-ship trains. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the ARR (which is,after all, state owned) receives subsidies from the State for some of it's services...
daveklepper I beleive they also run two regularly scheduled trains. Possibly their losses are made up by the cruise-ship trains. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the ARR (which is,after all, state owned) receives subsidies from the State for some of it's services...
I beleive they also run two regularly scheduled trains. Possibly their losses are made up by the cruise-ship trains.
daveklepper I beleive they also run two regularly scheduled trains. Possibly their losses are made up by the cruise-ship trains.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the ARR (which is,after all, state owned) receives subsidies from the State for some of it's services...
One example is wintertime propane supply trains (actually the usual equipment is a Hi Rail truck) that bring fuel and other supplies to state residents living "offf the grid" in remote areas..
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
The Alaska Railroad is owned by the state but operated like a business. It receives no state funds for operating purposes. It is dependent on the revenues generated by its freight, passenger, and real estate services to cover its operating expenses. Its employees are not state employees; they are employed by the railroad.
In 2013 the railroad carried 489,645 passengers. Fifty-four per cent of them traveled on cruise company owned cars; 46 per cent used one of the company's scheduled passenger trains.
In FY14 the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) had revenues (excluding grants) of $144 million and net income of $14.05 million. Freight revenues accounted for 65 per cent of total revenues, whilst passengers generated 19 per cent and real estate generated 13 per cent. Other revenues were three per cent.
In FY14 wages and benefits were $70.5 million or 49 per cent of revenues. Comparatively Amtrak's wage and benefits took 68.5 per cent of its revenues in FY14.
In FY13, which is the latest year for audited numbers, ARRC had operating revenues of $165 million (rounded), operating expenses of $161 million, and operating net income of $5 million (rounded up). Net real estate income boosted corporate net income to $14 million. Clearly, real estate services is the company's most profitable business line. It also provides a significant amount of the company's cash flow for investment purposes.
In FY13 the company received federal grants of $43 million for capital projects. It also gets state grants and loans for its capital projects.
In FY13 passenger revenues were $25.7 million and expenses were $9.3 million, resulting in a passenger operating profit of $16.4 million. In FY12 the corresponding numbers were $24 million and $9.8 million, with an operating profit of $14.2 million. In FY11 the passenger operating profit was $13.6 million.
ARRC does not allocate depreciation, interest, and other capital charges, so it is unknown whether passenger operations were profitable after allocation of these expenses.
I believe the cruse ships contract with ARR to run the trains that meet the ships. At one time the cruse lines had their own cars, to be hauled behind ARR trains, but I did not notice any private cars on my last visit to AK.
Since much has been made about Amtrak, for good or for ill, I am curious about a non Amtrak service outside of the lower 48, The Alaska Railroad. How much of its passenger operations, if any are profitable? Are these operations run by the cruise ship outfits? As far as the regular passenger operations go, how much is recovered financially from the farebox?
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.