News Wire: With funding loss imminent, Amtrak ends ticket sales for 'Hoosier State'

[CMStPnP]

runnerdude48

You don't get it?  The CSS&SB carries more than 11,000 passengers per WEEK DAY.  So it carries more passengers in 3 weekdays (33,000+) than the Hoosier State carries in a year (27,000).  The CSS & SB carries close to 4,000,000 passengers in a year.  And you don't get why the state puts more money into the CSS & SB than the Hoosier State?  If that is true then you probably don't get a lot of things.

South Shore petitioned for abandonment of all Passenger Service in 1977.   It was only the intervention of Indiana's Republican Governor that saved it.

[n012944]

runnerdude48

 

 

CMStPnP

I don't get it.

 

 

You don't get it?  The CSS&SB carries more than 11,000 passengers per WEEK DAY.  So it carries more passengers in 3 weekdays (33,000+) than the Hoosier State carries in a year (27,000).  The CSS & SB carries close to 4,000,000 passengers in a year.  And you don't get why the state puts more money into the CSS & SB than the Hoosier State?  If that is true then you probably don't get a lot of things.

 

 

 

Ding ding ding!  The Hoosier State proves that not all trains are good trains.

[runnerdude48]

JPS1

If a train generates fewer riders on average than could be carried in a bus, why in the world it runs at all is beyond me.

Absolutely, absolutely true.

[JPS1]

MidlandMike

 Another blow to those who think that corridors and state support are the future of Amtrak. 

A once a day train that departs its home base at 6:00 am and returns at 11:39 pm is not much of a corridor. 

 

In 2018 the Hoosier State carried an average of 38.2 passengers per train, and it had an operating loss of $1.9 million.  In 2017 it carried an average of 40.1 passengers per train and had an operating loss of $800,000.  However, the loss was $3.6 million on ticket revenues.  Most of this loss was made up by the state subsidy.

 

The most viable state supported corridors, as least based on number of riders, are Pacific Surfliner (2.9 million riders), Capitols (1.7 million), Keystone (1.5 million), Empire Service (1.2 million), and San Joaquins (1.1 million).  Runners up include the Hiawatha’s (844.4 thousand), Cascades (806.1 thousand) and The Downeaster (540 thousand).  These appear to be corridors where trains make sense. 

 

Viability is not just a function of the number of riders served.  Ticket revenues, state subsidies, operating losses, etc. should also be factored into the equations.  If a train generates fewer riders on average than could be carried in a bus, why in the world it runs at all is beyond me.

[runnerdude48]

CMStPnP

I don't get it.

You don't get it?  The CSS&SB carries more than 11,000 passengers per WEEK DAY.  So it carries more passengers in 3 weekdays (33,000+) than the Hoosier State carries in a year (27,000).  The CSS & SB carries close to 4,000,000 passengers in a year.  And you don't get why the state puts more money into the CSS & SB than the Hoosier State?  If that is true then you probably don't get a lot of things.

[CMStPnP]

Very shortsighted of Indiana.   How that state can rationalize that multi-millions spent improving the CSS&SB railway will greatly improve their economics as a state but that a smaller investment in Amtrak on Chicago and Indianapolis is not worth it as a rail corridor?

I don't get it.

[MidlandMike]

Another blow to those who think that corridors and state support are the future of Amtrak.

[Brian Schmidt]

CHICAGO — Amtrak has announced it will no longer sell tickets for the Hoosier State after June 30 as the train nears cancellation as a result of loss of funding from the state of Indiana. The state currently provides $3 million in funding for t...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/04/09-with-funding-loss-imminent-amtrak-ends-ticket-sales-for-hoosier-state