Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
During FY10 the average load factor on the Lake Shore Limited was approximately 61%, which mirrors the average factor for all the long distance trains.   A relatively small per cent of the long distance train passengers ride from end point to end point.  If I remember correctly from the California Zypher Improvement Study, only four per cent of its passengers ride it from end point to end point.  On my two trips this year on the Zypher, more than half the passengers de-trained in Denver. Another post on this topic raised the question whether the LSL is the best use of Amtrak's or the nation's limited resources.  By implication the question applies to all the long distance trains.  There are much better potential uses for the resources.   The long distance trains bring in approximately 24 per cent of Amtrak's revenues, but they account for nearly 76 per cent of Amtrak's operating loss before depreciation.  Amtrak does not allocate depreciation by route, claiming that it does not have the tools to do so.  However, it is developing a depreciation allocation method.  It appears that the bulk of Amtrak's depreciation is embedded in the NEC.  Accordingly, if depreciation were allocated by route, the long distance trains' per cent of Amtrak's operating loss would decline.    Amtrak claims it would save only $300 million per year if it discontinued the long distance trains.  I question this figure.  It is much lower than the annual long distance train operating loss, although a portion of the loss would not go away because of shared support costs.  In any case, assuming that Amtrak could earn the current U.S. Treasury Note rate of return on the savings, it would add up to $3.5 billion in 10 years and $8.5 billion in 20 years.  That's equal to this year's federal contribution for so-called high speed rail.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag