Passenger Trains > Amtrak's stats for starting 2015

Amtrak just posted it's ridership/revenue report for October (the first month of thier 2015 year). Yes, this is only one month; but it shows Amtrak is still growing; and off to a very good start.

. SYSTEM: RIDERSHIP +3% and REVENUE +6%

. LONG DISTANCE TRAINS: Ridership -0.9% and Revenue -1.1%

---Excluding 3 trains which did terrible (E.Bldr;Cap.Ltd.;LSL), most long haul trains did very well as follows:
Silver Star Ridership +4.1% and Revenue +6.2%
Calif.Zeph. Ridership+10.7% and Revenue +4.4%
S.West Chf. Ridership +4.2% and Revenue +1.3%
Texas Eagle Ridership +7.5% and Revenue +6.6%

The "Terrible Three" which got clobbered by Host Railroad delays suffered these losses:
Empire Builder Ridership -17.5% and revenue -24.4%
Capitol Limited Ridership -11.3% and revenue -14.4
Lake Shore Ltd. Ridership -18.0% and revenue -14.8%

. STATE CORRIDOR TRAINS: Ridership +4% and Revenue +7%

--- Best month ever for Empire Corridor--Rideship +8%
--- Some other good ridership news: Pacific Surfliners +17%; Capitol Corridor +11%; Keystone +8%
--- Trains Amtrak classified as "Weak": Chgo.-St.L -9.3%; Chgo-Carbondale -2.2%; Chgo-Quincy -2.1% (due in part to lost connections with late long distance trains).

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR; Ridership +3.4% and Revenue +8.8%
---Regional Trains: Ridership +7.7% and Revenue +11.9% (very strong growth)
---Acela Express: Ridership -4.4% and Revenue +6.2% (Amtrak says riders trailed because last year was a all-time record month for Acela. The revenue growth was due to fare increases.

SLEEPING CAR BUSINESS: Ridership +4% and Revenue +1.3% (despite losses from the "Terrible Three")

So, I would say Amtrak is off to a good start in 2015.

Joe



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/14 13:18 by floridajoe2001.

NEC ridership up 3.4%, and revenue up more than 8% suggests the company is getting a lot more revenue per seat.

That's an excellent measurement.

To: Lakawanna484

I agree. Most of these numbers look very strong; and it's a great way to start 2015.

Forgot to mention that the AutoTrain also had a VERY good October--on all counts: Ridership +7.2%; Revenue +11.3%; and in those high-revenue sleeping cars, Ridership +9.8% and Revenue +18.9% (apparently losing the 1st. Class lounge hasn't hurt--yet.)

Joe

PS: I'm hoping strong numbers like these continue; so that it will we harder for the new Congress to wield their "cost cutting" meat ax on Amtrak in 2015.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/14 17:07 by floridajoe2001.

Looks to me like the ones where revenue is up more than ridership are the ones that
stick out.

The ones where ridership is down but revenue is down even more are where some more
effort is needed.

Well it won't surprise me if 7 and 8 get their ridership back, mainly since most people expect an OT Train all the time compared to not understanding circumstances that causes them to run late!