Passenger Trains > Re: Tioga Pass

Well, there aren't many private cars filling Amtrak's coffers, but a few are still trying......

Surfliner train 572 from Los Angeles Friday, September 15th will have TIOGA PASS on the rear headed for San Diego.  This car will return from San Diego at 510pm on train 585.  

Then, on Saturday, 572 will have TIOGA PASS again headed South, but this time the car will lay over in San Diego and return to LA on 585 at 510pm Sunday night.

There are still a few seats left on these trips if you want to enjoy train travel as "GOD INTENDED"...

Call Norm at 760 953 9620.

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/23 23:09 by aronco.

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Have a great trip Norm. 

There would have been many more private cars on Amtrak if they had a different management team who understood that hauling private cars is gravy money to the bottom line.  But with all the rule changes and the exuberant charges that Amtrak put into place, they killed the biggest golden goose that laid the  largest golden eggs.  Keep in mind, the private rail car owner spends tons of money to maintain and operate his/her private car and Amtrak makes money hauling them. There are just too many turkeys running Amtrak today, and this is just another example.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

one or two pv covers all of amtrak trackage fees for that train

ClubCar Wrote:
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> There would have been many more private cars on
> Amtrak if they had a different management team who
> understood that hauling private cars is gravy
> money to the bottom line.  But with all the rule
> changes and the exuberant charges that Amtrak put
> into place, they killed the biggest golden goose
> that laid the  largest golden eggs.  Keep in
> mind, the private rail car owner spends tons of
> money to maintain and operate his/her private car
> and Amtrak makes money hauling them. There are
> just too many turkeys running Amtrak today, and
> this is just another example.
> John in White Marsh, Maryland

The mileage rate was just raised 22% to $5.00.  Other prices went up accordingly with new charges for trip cancellations and the like.

When did the Private Car rates last go up?

How does Amtrak apply these charges?

Mileage, switching charges at both ends, anything else?

Posted from Android

Amtrak raises mileage rates every year.
Yes there are switching charges and
Overnight parking fees and on and on. Some places like Boston are more expensive to park cars at.
Joe

Hou74-76 Wrote:
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> When did the Private Car rates last go up?

They are adjusted yearly, always up. Prior to 2014 rhe rate was $2.10 per mile. In 2018 it was $3.26 per mile*. I don't recall the most current rate. BTW, there are add-on charges for everything, e.g. switching, overnight parking, etc.
* https://www.aaprco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/AAPRCO_AmtrakOIG_20190313.pdf

aronco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, there aren't many private cars filling
> Amtrak's coffers, but a few are still
> trying......
>
> Surfliner train 572 from Los Angeles Friday,
> September 15th will have TIOGA PASS on the rear
> headed for San Diego.  This car will return from
> San Diego at 510pm on train 585.  
>
> Then, on Saturday, 572 will have TIOGA PASS again
> headed South, but this time the car will lay over
> in San Diego and return to LA on 585 at 510pm
> Sunday night.
>
> There are still a few seats left on these trips if
> you want to enjoy train travel as "GOD
> INTENDED"...
>
> Call Norm at 760 953 9620

Didn’t see Tioga Pass on 587, the train that departed San Diego at 5:10 p.m. tonight (Friday 9/15). Was the trip cancelled ?

Posted from iPhone

I was on the trip due to track work TP returned on 591 departed SD at 701 pm.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/23 14:37 by SanJoaquinEngr.

When was that photo taken? Hopefully the car owner will not be dinged for having people on the rear platform.

restricted_speed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When was that photo taken? Hopefully the car owner
> will not be dinged for having people on the rear
> platform.

It was taken before the ban 2 years ago enacted by Amtrak

Posted from Android

WP-M2051 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The mileage rate was just raised 22% to $5.00.
>  Other prices went up accordingly with new
> charges for trip cancellations and the like.

Get just one private car on an  Amtrak  train and you have almost covered the host railroad's per mile charge.

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WP-M2051 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The mileage rate was just raised 22% to $5.00.
> >  Other prices went up accordingly with new
> > charges for trip cancellations and the like.
>
> Get just one private car on an  Amtrak  train
> and you have almost covered the host railroad's
> per mile charge.

I continue to view Amtrak through the lens of perverse incentives.

My hypothesis is that executive bonuses are based solely on reducing costs. If the metric is indeed that one-sided, then incurring costs to reap even higher revenue benefits would be pointless from a bonus standpoint.

By increasing fees to PV owners it most definitely discourages their use, and hence reduces Amtrak's costs (and hence adds to bonuses). This would explain this (and countless other) head-scratching decisions that Amtrak has made. If there is indeed a screwed up incentive structure like this in place, it explains a great many things.