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[quote user="schlimm"] [quote user="henry6"]TRAINS' Newswire 2/16 story on Lynchburg train making a profit is quite intrestng on several notes. First that it is making a profit in its second month negating the need for a state subsidy.  Second that because of this train seats have opened up on the Crescent which has gone to the Crescent's bottom line making it's economics more favorable.  I think it underscores the fact that if you think of running passenger trains as a service rather than merely running trains, it will work.  The train makes one round trip a day but it is in addition to other trains on the route.  Maine's Downeaster service and California's San Diego service, among others, have proven this point in the past,  It is just not a point that gets through the crania of politicos![/quote]  That is certainly good news.  Yet sam1 states last night that the Surfer needs a subsidy of ~10 cents per passenger mile. Some discrepancy there, because I also thought I had read in the past that the Surfer was at least breaking even.  I would like to see a citation for those numbers. [/quote] The results for the Pacific Surfliner can be found on Page C-1 of the September 09 Monthly Operating Report.  The number is for September YTD, which in Amtrak's case means for the fiscal year.  To determine the true cost of an operation, one needs to consider a minimum of a year.  Frequently news sources quote a month when the train may have broken even or had a positive result, but it is the longer term that is important.  The December YTD report, which covers the first quarter of FY10, shows a loss of 13.1 cents per passenger mile.  These numbers exclude depreciation and interest, which would increase the loss.  Amtrak does not tell us how much.  Again, this information is found on Page C-1.
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