Passenger trains have layers of costs.Bzzzt. Wrong. You've failed to distinguish between fixed costs and variable costs. This matters. Look it up if you don't know the difference.The only thing that matters is what is the total cost to run a train for a mile
Which do you mean by "total cost"? I can tell you that practically every Amtrak train covers its variable costs. They nearly all generate a "gross profit".
The fixed costs, however, are most of the costs. Amtrak needs to run *more trains* in order to cover the fixed costs.
1. Above the rail costs. Fuel, supplies, repairs and labor to get the train ready and to travel from point A to point B.
2.Trackage cost. Payments to the host railroads or a prorated share of the maintenance cost for Amtrak owned track.
3.Overhead. Headquarters, ticketing, off train managerial labor, etc.
4. Equipment replacement. As equipment wears out it must be replaced. Train operations need to have an operational margin after the first three cost categories are covered to fund new equipment replacements.
The title of this topic is "What's wrong with Amtrak?" so I'm trying to find out what is wrong with Amtrak.
So my question to this group is what routes cover which cost categories?
Do western LD trains cover 1 & 2 ?
Do eastern LD trains cover 1 & 2 with a little left over for 3?
Does the NE Corridor cover 1 & 2 & 3 and maybe some of 4?
Does anyone know?