Passenger Trains > "A" report card for AMTRAK, record ridership & record income.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/55331311/amtrak-amtrak-closes-fy25-with-record-ridership-revenue?o_eid=0625F7358167H1E&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|0625F7358167H1E&utm_campaign=CPS251126048&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MASS+Transit+Rail+Update

Rail yard upgrades to support the new Airo fleet  (https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/vehicles/article/53075147/amtraks-airo-trains-boosting-businesses-nationwide)advanced in Seattle and along the East Coast. Station modernization and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance efforts (Fort Morgan and Granby, CO), which included more than $182 million invested in FY25 alone, continued as well. Amtrak also deployed new, faster ALC-42 diesel locomotives for long distance trains.   
Photos;

1 - Amtrak improvements at Fort Morgan, CO, November 2025.

2 - Station platform improvements and longer platform at Granby, Colorado.
 

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At $596 for an Acela 2.0 trip from Boston to New York City, revenue will likely be up for the year. That's about $2.80 per seat mile.  Pretty good money.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> At $596 for an Acela 2.0 trip from Boston to New
> York City, revenue will likely be up for the year.
> That's about $2.80 per seat mile.  Pretty good
> money.

Yes, they raise the rates but the frequencies are still not back to the heyday of when the legacy Acelas were in their prime. When will we see more NextGen Acela frequencies, AND more importantly some shorter trip times? It's December 2025 and I am a bit disappointed in Amtrak's NextGen rollout. I sure hope the Acela brand doesn't get too damaged - the legacy Acelas are seemingly limping along in service. There's a lack of expediency to get the NextGen Acelas out on the road to restore and grow [premium] Acela frequencies.......But Amtrak sure knows how to gouge passengers with prices.......sadly. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/25 04:30 by jp1822.

Sucks only as usual, the LD sector only gets minimal publicity! It's still hilarious how they claim all this and still haven't announced when, or even a bit IF, they're gonna finally get to ordering new cars to replace the Superliners!

i hope they continue to work the kinks out of the next gen acelas AND chargers so that they can be safe and reliable......unlike most the people here apparently i seem to understand that sometimes new things just dint work how they should right out the chute.

AC

The article seems to be a cut-and-paste from an Amtrak press release, or "brag sheet" written for Congress.  Sure, Amtrak has had some successes, and that should be acknowledged.  But this is just a puff piece with no journalistic fact checking or explanation of context.  Are the ALC-42s faster than the diesels they've replaced?  Maybe, but I'm not aware of any schedule that's been improved based on their supposed superior capabilities.  227% YoY growth on the Minneapolis - Chicago corridor sounds great, until you realize 2025 was the first year full year of operation of a dedicated in-corridor train.  Traffic growth is expected, but the article offers no context as to why it's happening, or how the number stacks up to expectations at the time of launch.  Sure, new wash facilities are making trains cleaner than they were in 2024, but lets remember we're comparing that to a year when it was report that there was only one working washer in the entire system.  I'm not sure what this blog or publication purports to be, but it isn't journalism.

Dave