March MPR Released

Not a good one and not a bad one IMO.

https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/501/682/Amtrak-Monthly-Performance-Report-March-2017.pdf

I'm really wondering why March was so rough compared to the rest of the YTD. My best guess is that Easter was quite early last year but fairly late this year...

Mechanical offices' report had only 2 glaring problems.

1. 6 - Superliner-1 sleepers overhaul level 2 were waiting for cushions.

2. 3 - Switcher overhaul scheduled for 4 weeks have been waiting over 26 ? weeks for return of power plants, Had to go to another vendor at a reduced price 6 week return.

Since report is back 7 weeks hopefully these problems cured especially the OOS sleepers.

Yay, long distance coach vs. sleeper figures are back after a few months off!

In 2016, Easter was in March (March 27). This year, Easter was in April (April 16).

That has to account for a large portion of any ridership declines in March this year compared to last year. Wait until April figures come out, combine March-April and compare those figures year-to-year to get a better idea.

Yikes there were a lot of ugly, double-digit year-over-year losses in ridership, but I too am betting Easter may have had something to do with that. I guess we'll see what happens in April's report.

The LSL had a downright disastrous month for coach/business ridership (only slightly offset by a small tick up in sleeper ridership). Were there some cancellations? I don't recall.

The CONO, SL, and TE all had huge gains in both coach/business and sleeper ridership. I know TE is bouncing back from an awful FY2016, not sure if the others are in that same category too.

Will the Auto Train ever get back into positive territory? Someone (other than all of us on this board LOL) has got to be concerned with the hemorrhaging going on there. It needs a lifeline, badly. Of course CSX and TriRail (whoops, I mean SunRail) aren't helping much with slow orders and delays by the bucket load.

NS and CSX continue their ways of absolutely butchering Amtrak's OTP; NS almost went off the chart in March. CP is still the gold standard for how to keep things running smoothly on the freight rails.

For the fourth straight month, RASM (Revenue Per Seat Mile) has been above budget, and for two straight months it is above last year. Likewise CASM (Expenses Per Seat Mile) has been below budget for two straight months. Both positive signs.

Its not TriRail that Auto train runs on. It is Sun Rail. The big problem for Sun Rail is the St. Johns river drawbridge just north of Sanford that often delays both Auto Train and the Silver trains.

Most of the "down" numbers are just due to the date of Easter and shouldn't worry anyone. LSL gets *lots* of Easter traffic particularly in coach.

The Auto Train, on the other hand, is bleeding out and needs to be fixed ASAP.

neroden said:

The Auto Train, on the other hand, is bleeding out and needs to be fixed ASAP.

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Considering the train lost almost 2,000 riders from the previous FY, that's pretty sad.

Compare the entire FY so far compared to last, the train has lost almost 15,000 riders.

The AT is in desperate need of fixings.

What do you think is causing the sharp drop in the Auto Train ridership?

Why the Auto Train is bleeding.

Price increase.

Service decrease. (On board amenities decrease)

Population change.

Transportation options increasing.

On-Time Performance decrease.

The real issue is how to get back a specialist transportation option back from the downward arc.

Some Amtrak personnel do not seem to get the supply and demand economy. When the economy tanked they were not going to drop prices, due to the fact the decrease in prices would make the cash flow issues worse. Everyone else was dropping prices and capacity to keep there seats full.

Correction from a post by Acela150. With Thanks.

Just-Thinking-51 said:

Price increase.

Click to expand...

Just how much have Auto Train prices/fares increased?

Just-Thinking-51 said:

Service decrease.

Click to expand...

I would reword this... This implies that they are reducing trips of the AT.. It's not a service decrease. It's a Decrease in the amenities. The two are very different.

I see AT revenue per rider up for YTD, but the volume is down (5.5k vehicles, 8.7%) which implies a price increase that didn't work? Losing 13.7% of coach/biz riders and 10.1% of sleeper riders is pretty bad.

Ex-AT, it looks like passenger ridership and ticket revenue is positive for both coach/biz and sleeper, which is encouraging.

west point said:

Its not TriRail that Auto train runs on. It is Sun Rail.

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Whoops, my bad. When I can, I'll edit my post.