Passenger Trains > Amtrak Cash

Word on the street is that the explosion in Covid 19 across the nation is killing Amtrak sales especially on the LDT's??  Situation is such that unless Congress passes a bill containing some serious additional cash for Amtrak , and sales remain weak, the company could become cash insolvent by April/May 2021??  

   The latest rumblings from Capitol Hill are not encouraging and seem to indicate any new stimulus will have to wait until the Biden administration takes over in late January.

    Ride 'em while you can. Scary times, Ross Rowland 
    

Sorry but Amtrak is the least of the Nation's worries.

The passenger counts aren't any lower than what was riding back in, say April, just my observations, and a few Amtrak Conductor friends say that ridership isn't horrible considering. The rest is news to me. Was Amtrak ever really solvent? They always seemed to be a month or two away from shutting down if the government didn't step in...

"It's all an illusion." ...Alice Waters

Meanwhile, the Texas Eagle is completely sold out on Friday from San Antonio!

Perhaps if blue state governors didn't re-issue more illegal draconian lock downs people would be more likely to live their lives including travel. More might also ride Amtrak if decent food were available, trains ran on days you actually need to travel, and schedules were available on the web site. So far this year I've done the following: 2 Delta flights with center seat open, 8 Amtrak trains all in rooms, 28 hotel overnights, countless in restaurant dining, and 4 days of steam photo events. No issues at all. Amtrak isn't the only business affected by Covid and the new and in some cases ridiculous (raise your mask between bites) lock down policies aren't helping.  Studies show that 1/3 of all restaurants will never come back although only 4% of infections have been traced to in restaurant dining. Even a lower percentage to airlines...reported as 40,000 infections over billions of air travelers world wide since March. Airlines need help a well.  But many in Congress are more interested in funding pet programs that are in no way related to Covid. Where do they think that money is coming from. The Senate has proposed numerous Covid relief legislation only to be shot down by the House because unrelated programs weren't included. So everyone loses.  

There are no "lockdowns". NEC ridership is down by the same 70 - 80% as the NE and Chicago commuter railroads. The private sector is on work-from-home and on tele-conference. It is that Gardner and Coscia decided to not let a crisis go to waste and plot to sabotage the LD trains, whose ridership was running 40 - 50% of normal, cut their capacity 85%, and lean on deceptive accounting practices. 

To add insult to injury:

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Agents-Angered-by-Amtrak-Commission-Move?fbclid=IwAR2vCEXSjcmif0BzW6w_qA2jKyG04KuhtmvWANBbRKzjZ1RM-mON8BvHgPI

And don't expected the corridors to come fully back for years to come, while the corridors is all that interests the airplane hacks and korridor kids at Amtrak, reflected in their multi-billion dollar tin cup they have out : 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/coronavirus-bill-gates-says-more-than-50percent-of-business-travel-will-disappear-long-term.html?fbclid=IwAR1jDQzrJJs_QCnFyHXKP3ejP7Npet5J2kU_A5HEuAQodwNzVRwoQfBTWSc

BTW, "Blue Sates' don't have 30 - 50% positivity rates like South Dakota and Utah, nor have ICU's filled at anywhere near 90%.  
Of course restaurants are not now the problem - in door seating is capped at 25%. Raise that to 100%, and they would be super-spreaders like White House SCOTUS and Election receptions and countless, illegal wedding parties. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/20 05:14 by joemvcnj.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perhaps if blue state governors didn't re-issue more illegal draconian lock downs people would be more likely to live their lives

Oh Please.  I would have thought your politicians were able to come up with a better solution to the Social Security Trust Fund problems than killing off a significant percentage of recipients.

Even many Libertarians believe Public Health is a legitimate use of the State's Power.

Brian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/20 05:23 by choodude.

Joe makes a good point. I have a long time good friend who owns/runs a major travel agency. He told me he stopped making Amtrak reservations 3 years ago partly because of the 2013 commission decision but equally because he had several valued clients come back to him with terrible " never again" stories. Now, when a prospective client requests help with Amtrak arrangements he sends them to the Amtrak website with a strong warning from him based upon past experience. 

   I'm sure he's not alone among the travel industry pros. 

   Sad but true.   Ross Rowland 

Decemner 11.  Date  for  all  2011  appropriations  to be  complered. Amtrak  wants  2.4  billion. This is  NOT  Covid  relief. Dec.11.

cutboy1958 Wrote:
> Decemner 11.  Date  for  all  2011  appropriations  to be  complered. Amtrak  wants  2.4  billion. This is  NOT  Covid  relief. Dec.11.

I think I see the problem.
/Ted

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Joe makes a good point. I have a long time good
> friend who owns/runs a major travel agency. He
> told me he stopped making Amtrak reservations 3
> years ago partly because of the 2013 commission
> decision but equally because he had several valued
> clients come back to him with terrible " never
> again" stories. Now, when a prospective client
> requests help with Amtrak arrangements he sends
> them to the Amtrak website with a strong warning
> from him based upon past experience. 
>
>    I'm sure he's not alone among the travel
> industry pros. 
>
>    Sad but true.   Ross Rowland 

Definitely sad and also true. I’ve been reluctant to recommend Amtrak to friends and relatives for DECADES though. Basically since its inception. I LOVE riding the train, but I know the product is lacking in many ways. And only getting worse. The current level of service isn’t worth the price. Especially in sleeper. Equipment is usually tired looking and quite possibly has HVAC or toilet issues. Crews range from fantastic to indifferent. Timekeeping is a total crap shoot. Your dream trip could be that, or an uncomfortable nightmare. Sad.

Posted from iPhone

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are no "lockdowns". NEC ridership is down by
> the same 70 - 80% as the NE and Chicago commuter
> railroads. The private sector is on work-from-home
> and on tele-conference. It is that Gardner and
> Coscia decided to not let a crisis go to waste and
> plot to sabotage the LD trains, whose ridership
> was running 40 - 50% of normal, cut their capacity
> 85%, and lean on deceptive accounting
> practices. 
>
> To add insult to injury:
>
> https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Agents
> -Angered-by-Amtrak-Commission-Move?fbclid=IwAR2vCE
> XSjcmif0BzW6w_qA2jKyG04KuhtmvWANBbRKzjZ1RM-mON8BvH
> gPI
>
> And don't expected the corridors to come fully
> back for years to come, while the corridors is all
> that interests the airplane hacks and korridor
> kids at Amtrak, reflected in their multi-billion
> dollar tin cup they have out : 
>
> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/coronavirus-bill-g
> ates-says-more-than-50percent-of-business-travel-w
> ill-disappear-long-term.html?fbclid=IwAR1jDQzrJJs_
> QCnFyHXKP3ejP7Npet5J2kU_A5HEuAQodwNzVRwoQfBTWSc
>
> BTW, "Blue Sates' don't have 30 - 50% positivity
> rates like South Dakota and Utah, nor have ICU's
> filled at anywhere near 90%.  
> Of course restaurants are not now the problem - in
> door seating is capped at 25%. Raise that to 100%,
> and they would be super-spreaders like White House
> SCOTUS and Election receptions and countless,
> illegal wedding parties. 
Hey you forgot one super-spreader  ---- the Joe Biden celebrations!!!!!!! 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/20 07:24 by bluesboyst.

co614 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Word on the street is that the explosion in Covid
> 19 across the nation is killing Amtrak sales
> especially on the LDT's??  Situation is such that
> unless Congress passes a bill containing some
> serious additional cash for Amtrak , and sales
> remain weak, the company could become cash
> insolvent by April/May 2021??  
>
>    The latest rumblings from Capitol Hill are
> not encouraging and seem to indicate any new
> stimulus will have to wait until the Biden
> administration takes over in late January.
>
>     Ride 'em while you can. Scary times, Ross
> Rowland 
>     

I don't think Amtrak Joe will allow it....

OOPS!!  Make  that  2021.  I  just noticed  we  already passed  2011!!

If they are still playing this game that LDT's are bleeding them dry especially 3x weekly with no frills, management and board need to be shown the exit in February if not before.

Just for info, Ross:
I rode #5 yesterday (Colfax to Martinez CA) and the passenger count between Reno and Emeryville was roughly 100- 60 Coach/ 40 Sleepers.

I just boarded #11 (Martinez to Santa Barbara CA). I don’t have the counts yet, but I’ll check with the conductor once we clear San Jose.
SR


Update: The high count on #11 last night was 165. Down the California Coast today it will be 95.

BTW: It’s normal for the overnight count to be higher on the Coast Starlight than the day count, it’s always been that way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/20 08:58 by BoilingMan.

And now we have this nonsense of a fire sale of Acela rides

https://media.amtrak.com/2020/11/amtrak-acela-brates-20-years-of-acela-travel-with-20-fares/

None for long distance.
 
Perhaps Acela should only run on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays southbound and Monday, Thursdays and Saturdays northbound.  Wonder how the few remaining suits riding it would like that. 

This is Gardner's desperate attempt to empty out LD and fill Acela, counter to the what the market dictates. 

 

Thanks SR, appreciate the heads up on ridership. Not too shabby although with the vastly reduced capacity it ain't paying the bills either. A good friend just did a trip on 29 and reports very light in coach and about 1/2 load in sleepers. Again, with 3 trains a week and 1 sleeper that's not good news. 

   My WAG is that the ACELA give away probably flopped as with the virus spiking everywhere and the hospitalization and death rates now also spiking people are becoming increasingly afraid to travel. 

   Ross Rowland 

Few businesses are receiving sales people, bankers, consultants in person. The airlines and hotels are facing the same problem.

Whether this is a fundamental change in the way business is done, or just an inflection isn't clear yet.

Posted from Android