Passenger Trains > Who handed more psgrs: LS, Meteor or STAR

On the day before Thanksgiving Cashfare posted some very interesting total handlings for some NEC and LD trains. Am wondering on the busiest days which train, the LAKE SHORE, SILVER METEOR or SILVER STAR handled the most? The LS is the biggest (15 cars during the holiday) and the other two have 11 cars during the holiday but run alot further.
Am told that today (Sunday the 25th that #194 out of Newport News has the most reservations of any NEC train and that VERMONTER #57 has a surprisingly large crowd).

Andy

Today is a big "back to college" day for many students.

I suspect trains headed up into New England will see much heavier than usual loadings from Philly and NY area.

Sliver star carried 425,000,lake shore ltd carried 403,000, Sliver meteor carried 375,000 passenger last year. however, the Empire Builder carried the most 543,00 passengers last year making the busiest long distance train. the Coast Starlight being the second busiest train long distance train.

Patterns of ridership differ between 91/92 and 97/98. 91/92 get heavy ridership north of Raleigh and south of Jacksonville but not as many passengers in between; in other words, 91/92 carry a high proportion of NEC-Raleigh and intra-Florida passengers, with the possibility that the same physical seat is sold twice. 97/98 tend to carry more NEC-Florida traffic, in part because 89/90 runs through the Carolinas and Georgia in daylight and handles much of the load at Savannah, Charleston, etc.

Ridership of 91/92 and 97/98 is limited by the number of cars available. If Amtrak had been able to buy 250 Amfleet II coaches instead of 125, most of the eastern LD trains would be carrying more passengers today than they do. Consists are short by historical standards.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/12 13:51 by ctillnc.

You're certainly right about the trains used to be longer - 16-18 cars and packed full. Going even further back to the late 1970s there was the Palmetto which had eight cars of Amfleet Is, the Champion 16-18 in season, the Silver Star 16-18 in season, and the Silver Meteor with 16-18 in season. They were packed trains during the holidays...

Train 194 maxed out at just over 900 passengers north of Metropark today. Bet its fun lifting tickets on that beast!

RailThunder Wrote:
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> You're certainly right about the trains used to be
> longer - 16-18 cars and packed full. Going even
> further back to the late 1970s there was the
> Palmetto which had eight cars of Amfleet Is, the
> Champion 16-18 in season, the Silver Star 16-18 in
> season, and the Silver Meteor with 16-18 in
> season. They were packed trains during the
> holidays...

Except, that this perception is not reality. Ridership in 1979 with three trains of 14-18 cars was 839,000 on the NYC-Florida routes. This year, with two trains at 9-11 cars, restricted consists, and only one train to Tampa (the busiest stop in Florida), its 803,000. The peak on the route in 1991 was 910,000. Its likely that if both trains ran to Tampa still, ridership would be higher than 1991.

The Palmetto peaked at 208,000 in 1991 and is at 197,000 now.

The Viewliner sleepers on order to be added to these trains will add around 12,000 riders per car. If one goes to each train, that would be 24,000. If the Star gets a second one, that would be 36,000.

The real problem is a lack of growth in number trains.

The number of passengers carried is not the best measurement of productivity, although it does provide a starting point.

PM/TM is much better, as it tells us not only raw numbers, but also how far people travel, which is important, as some trains carry people for much longer average distances than others, while others have more "shorts".

There are inevitably some apples-and-oranges in the numbers. Part of the difference in consist length now-versus-then is attributable to sleepers that don't have as much impact on absolute ridership numbers as coaches but do have a higher relative impact on revenue. Another factor that inflates current numbers is that compared to 1979, Amtrak has developed short-haul business on 91/92 that it didn't have before.

I believe the market has, in fact, grown since the 1970s and that the Silvers, the Crescent, and the Carolinian (which still runs with mainly Amfleet I) could benefit from an additional coach each. But I recognize the imperative at Amtrak to add sleeper space and get rid of the remaining Heritage cars first.

There is very little chance of wholly new LD trains such as the Champion or even extending the Palmetto back into south Florida.

I've seen sumbers that show patronage on the "Silver Service" trains is down by 30% versus the early 1990s, when 15-car trains were common. Those stupid little trains with a total of six or seven revenue cars make me sick. I remember the service SCL ran before May 1971.

shoretower Wrote:
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> I've seen sumbers that show patronage on the
> "Silver Service" trains is down by 30% versus the
> early 1990s, when 15-car trains were common.
> Those stupid little trains with a total of six or
> seven revenue cars make me sick. I remember the
> service SCL ran before May 1971.


Yes, but how much money did they lose? Amtrak's cost recovery has improved markedly.