Passenger Trains > Amtrak CEO on CNBC after 10 AM EST today

CNBC is saying that the Amtrak CEO will be on sometime after 10 AM EST today, Monday, February 22.

Jim

saw the end,   did they touch on western long distance at all?

Obsessed with Acela, brief mention of Chicago-St Louis, and California, then deteriorating Hudson River tunnels in the context of infrastructure. That is "the country" according to Amtrak, at least when speaking to a business network, given that business travel does not much exist on the national network.

It is something like this:
https://viewing.nyc/new-yorker-cover-from-1976-accurately-portrays-how-we-see-the-rest-of-the-country/
 
He expects the business/leisure split on Acela to be far more skewed toward leisure in the future, expecting permanent drop-off in business travel, but be back-filled. Amtrak has 80% of air-rail travel market in the NEC, and that has also been the case over the past year with Covid as well. 

Ridership has been 20-25% of normal (no break down of NEC, other corridors, LD), expects 35% this summer. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/21 07:40 by joemvcnj.

dan Wrote:
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> saw the end,   did they touch on western long
> distance at all?

Not that I heard.  As usual, most was about the NEC.  But I did hear what sounded like at least a little support for long distance trains.  And replacements for Amfleet.

Relying on leisure travel to support Acela II sounds like a Hail Mary pitch.  In my travels on Acela, the traffic skewed mostly business travel. 

Leisure travelers are stuffing themselves onto Spirit Airlines etc to save a buck.  I don't see them paying double the fare compared to a regional train.  Just to save a few minutes.

Yield management can lower their outrageous fares, but how will they make use of 28, as opposed to 20, train sets ? They had assumed some half-hourly service. That won't happen. Fast, expensive service can clobber the air market, but not do much about longer travel on I-95. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/21 13:09 by joemvcnj.

Very interesting they admit leisure travel is the market that's out there, and they are going after it on Acela? Excuse my language but WTF, yes leisure is the market out there but it's on the long distance network which they cringe to talk about or act on, not Acela. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/21 08:11 by Flyer92122.

Consider his audience, the hosts, and that network. They wouldn't be caught dead on the Silver Star. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Consider his audience, the hosts, and that
> network. They wouldn't be caught dead on the
> Silver Star. 

Or the "chicken bone express"
 

video is now available: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/02/22/amtrack-ceo-covid-impact-business-travel-outlook.html
 

We don't need replacement cars for Amfleet 1s.  We need a replacement for Finley et al.  

Geeze - Wonder if Finley get's excited about anything?  That interview was so blase -  didn't come off as anyone excited about the future

The Amfleet are beyond the end of their useful lives, They were never built for the mission they are being asked to complete, the cars are in a sad state of repair and the center sills cannot be repaired, they are a terrible accident waiting to happen, they need to be retired.

Posted from iPhone

another_view Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Amfleet are beyond the end of their useful
> lives, They were never built for the mission they
> are being asked to complete, the cars are in a sad
> state of repair and the center sills cannot be
> repaired, they are a terrible accident waiting to
> happen, they need to be retired.
>
> Posted from iPhone

You know who built them?

Posted from Android

Pushing the Acelas for leisure travel is ridiculous.  The additional price for the Acela is not worth the shorter transit times compared to the Regional. Three stops that appeal to leisure travel are Westerly, RI and Mystic, Stonington and New London in Connecticut.  Acela's do not stop at them as there is not high level platform.  I have seen the Acela stop at New London, at the short handicapped platform in cases of weather cancellations.

ProAmtrak Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> another_view Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Amfleet are beyond the end of their useful
> > lives, They were never built for the mission
> they
> > are being asked to complete, the cars are in a
> sad
> > state of repair and the center sills cannot be
> > repaired, they are a terrible accident waiting
> to
> > happen, they need to be retired.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> You know who built them?

Budd.

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > another_view Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The Amfleet are beyond the end of their
> useful
> > > lives, They were never built for the mission
> > they
> > > are being asked to complete, the cars are in
> a
> > sad
> > > state of repair and the center sills cannot
> be
> > > repaired, they are a terrible accident
> waiting
> > to
> > > happen, they need to be retired.
> > >
> > > Posted from iPhone
> >
> > You know who built them?
>
> Budd.

And? They were great for their era, unfortunately they were run hard and put away wet, they are done.

I have followed Amtrak for 50 years now and those dummies still can't do anything right...sad. 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Relying on leisure travel to support Acela II
> sounds like a Hail Mary pitch.  In my travels on
> Acela, the traffic skewed mostly business
> travel. 
>

I'm optimistic about Bussiness travel returning.  Bussiness travel is generally considered to be a perk for the class of workers that approve business travel. I don't see a universe where upper management passes on a work related NYC meal and Broadway tkts in favour of a Zoom call. 

I'm not. The only thing publicly traded companies give a damn about is boosting shareholder price, cutting costs, and getting rid of workers. If your T&E budget, or anything else, is cut, it does not come back.