Capacity Management/Revenue Enhancement

[gokeefe]

Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman was on CNBC yesterday discussing demand issues and the need for infrastructure work.

Here is a link to the video.

I concur with Greg, Amtrak has implemented a new media strategy. New York Times and CNBC in the same week. So far I'm impressed.

The more they talk about this the harder it is going to be got the NJ and NY congressional delegations to ignore this project. He's effectively putting them on the hook for a major failure. Interesting tactic in of itself.

[Backshophoss]

Since the North(Hudson)River Tubes took a good hit from Sandy,and the crumbling of the concrete
and rebar,along with the cable damage,Boardman is pushing the point that "something" has to done,
REAL SOON.
It might be funding Gateway,$$$$$ needed for North Tubes rehab,and $$$$$ needed for Portal's replacement.

[gokeefe]

The recent report of the Chief Mechanical Officer in the March 2015 Monthly Performance Report noted that two of three planned Amfleet wreck rebuilds for the year have been completed. I am curious about where these wreck cars came from but also if there are any other wrecked Amfleets available to be rebuilt. As ridership on the Northeast Corridor rises towards new records yet again I'm sure Amtrak will need every last car they can muster.

[gokeefe]

Reading through the FY '16 Budget, Business Plan, and FY '17 Budget Justification and Five Year Plan (See PDF Page 24/25 of 164) I found this notable discussion of the current state of affairs for the Acela.

Next Generation High-Speed Trainsets for the Northeast Corridor – The introduction of Amtrak’s first generation high-speed trainsets and the start of Acela Express service in late calendar year 2000 represented a watershed event for Amtrak’s service on the NEC. In FY 2000, the last year before Acela Express began operation, Amtrak’s NEC operations generated a net operating loss. In FY15, the NEC operations generated an operating surplus of nearly $479 million, down from approximately $500 million in FY14.5 The large majority of this operating surplus, and hence the success of the NEC, is attributable to Acela Express.

Acela Express service is provided by 20 trainsets, each with approximately 300 seats that are based upon early to mid-1990s technology. These trainsets, which are of a design unique to Amtrak, are becoming progressively more difficult and expensive to maintain due to their aging technology. More important, however, are their capacity constraints and inability to meet growing demand. A majority of the departures between Washington and New York City on most days of the week see load factors in excess of 90%. Trains that are completely sold out are becoming an increasingly common occurrence. This reflects potential income Amtrak cannot realize because of the limited capacity.

Amtrak’s Next Generation High-Speed Trainset Project will address the short-term capacity constraints and position Acela Express service for the long-term. The project will acquire up to 28 contemporary, state-of-the-art, high-speed trainsets to first supplement and eventually replace the legacy Acela Express trainsets.

(Bold and italics are original to the quoted text)

I think it is interesting to note that Amtrak has now reached a point where the Acela sells out so regularly that it appears to affect other trains down through the timetable. The recent opening of some Long Distance trains to intra-NEC traffic seems to show the tremendous pressure that is on the entire NEC system between WAS and NYP. I am fascinated by the idea of what the planned expansion of Acela service would do to the travel market between WAS and NYP.

[gokeefe]

In an interview with CNBC in November incoming Amtrak CEO had this to say about revenues, demand and pricing:

Moorman said that as a passenger-carrying railroad that has inevitable difficulty turning a profit, Amtrak is exploring new ways to make money that would not require raising ticket prices.
"We are looking a lot at elasticity of demand versus price now to see what we can do to try to bring in more revenue," the CEO said.

As noted they don't want to raise ticket prices. The only other option? Sell more units!

Although it is tempting to interpret his remarks as only pertaining to Acela I felt that it was a comment about the business situation in general at Amtrak. It's good to see this kind of thinking at the top.

[ThirdRail7]

I know gokeefe loves referencing older threads, so I thought I'd give him an old blast from the past.

I think it is interesting to note that Amtrak has now reached a point where the Acela sells out so regularly that it appears to affect other trains down through the timetable. The recent opening of some Long Distance trains to intra-NEC traffic seems to show the tremendous pressure that is on the entire NEC system between WAS and NYP. I am fascinated by the idea of what the planned expansion of Acela service would do to the travel market between WAS and NYP.

Well, we've seen additional Acela frequencies. We've seen regionals that are packed over large parts of the corridor. We've seen southbound Long Distance trains carrying passengers over the corridor.

With ridership heavy on the NEC, the northbound Long Distance trains are getting into the act. If you look at the schedule, you've noticed train 80 has returned are a scheduled train on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Keeping the rotten northbound OTP in mind, numbers have been crunched and they are trying to add a few more into the mix based upon the projected otp. If you look at the website, you'll notice train 92, which departs MIA on Saturdays will accept passengers for local travel WAS-NYP on Sundays. This experiment will run through DEC.

Train 50 is also in the mix through the Thanksgiving rush.

They are attempting to use as much capacity as possible, when possible and there isn't a lot of options.

[gokeefe]

I know gokeefe loves referencing older threads, so I thought I'd give him an old blast from the past.

Oh you shouldn't have!

I am amazed that Amtrak continues to rummage through the attic as it were for capacity options.

It's great to see them adding capacity but I agree there are some very significant risks associated with taking reservations on the tail end of routes where trains consistently run late.

I am curious how management or crews feel about the increased capacity coming to the Acela trains. I would imagine some already overworked station services are going to be challenged by the additional passenger loads.

[ThirdRail7]

I am curious how management or crews feel about the increased capacity coming to the Acela trains. I would imagine some already overworked station services are going to be challenged by the additional passenger loads.

I don't see why it would be an issue. Northeast Regional trains have more capacity and seating than the new trainsets and they're handled every day.

[gokeefe]

Good point and thank you for that thought.

So in theory Amtrak potentially makes headway with expanded Acela service that might result in flat ridership but comes with a major bump in revenues. Interesting ...

[gokeefe]

In the MSP-CHI 2nd frequency thread a mention was made of an occasional "807/808" coach section of the Empire Builder running only MSP-CHI with setout coaches. Further indication was given of similar practices for STL and KCY.

I had never heard of this previously and it was great to see that "yet again" Amtrak shows they still have the ability to adapt to travel demand.

Does Amtrak make use of setout coaches on an intermittent basis anywhere else?

[Bob Roberts]

In the MSP-CHI 2nd frequency thread a mention was made of an occasional "807/808" coach section of the Empire Builder running only MSP-CHI with setout coaches. Further indication was given of similar practices for STL and KCY.

I had never heard of this previously and it was great to see that "yet again" Amtrak shows they still have the ability to adapt to travel demand.

Does Amtrak make use of setout coaches on an intermittent basis anywhere else?

I have not seen it elsewhere but....

A setout would be very useful in Raleigh on the Carolinian. The WAS-RGH section is the busiest portion of the Carolinian by far and Raleigh is already a 'smoke break' stop. NCDOT has the necessary switching and storage capacity there as well. Their is also good reason to cut a coach in Raleigh, rather than drag it to Charlotte -- the length of the Carolinian has long been limited by a short siding in Charlotte where the train is stored overnight, an extra coach would make the 79-80 consistently profitable (above the rails) in normal times. This setout would just be a temporary maneuver, the Charlotte storage problem will be solved when Gateway station opens (3-4 years?)

Edit: let me clarify. I nave never seen (or heard of) a setout happen in Raleigh. I was just saying it would be useful there.


Setouts in Atlanta for the Crescent also make good sense, but per previous discussions here, there is no storage/swtiching capacity exists for it to happen.

[gokeefe]

It's worth noting that as reported these setouts all appear to be on federal Long Distance services. Does anyone know of an example where enroute coach setouts have occurred on state supported routes?

[JimBoylan]

I think that there are additions and subtractions of cars at Rensselaer, New York with Empire Service trains, some of which are State supported.

[njtmnrrbuff]

Yes, at ALB, both the northbound Amtrak Maple Leaf and Adirondack Trains get a car removed. It's the car immediately following the P32AC-DM. The reverse happens for those two southbound trains. NY State probably thinks that more of the travel isn't as heavily busy north and west of ALB over south of ALB, although the trains west of ALB see a lot of riders. Hopefully someday, the travel time could be reduced west of Schenectady for Amtrak travelers.

As for the Carolinian, there are probably many riders that get off trains in RGH who are coming from the Northeast and Virginia. Remember that the train ride from DC to Raleigh is a bit slower than driving, given that both the Carolinian and Silver Star trains go by way of Rocky Mount to get to Richmond. In the future, VA and NC are trying to see about reactivating the old S Line south of Petersburg, VA and this would probably save an hour or two for Amtrak trains stopping at Raleigh that are coming from NYP, DC, and RVR. Eventually, there are supposed to be four additional Carolinian trains in each direction running from NYP-Charlotte. I think those new Carolinians may take the S Line to Raleigh if it ever gets reactivated which it should. If this happens, more and more people will take the train from the Northeast to not only Raleigh, but towns like Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, and Charlotte.

I remember a decade ago, I rode the Cardinal from NYP-Chicago and at Indianapolis, two horizon coaches were added to the back of our train and these were for passengers traveling from anywhere between Indy to Chicago as well as stations in between. I don't know if Indiana does that anymore.

[mtuandrew]

I don’t think the CHI-MSP Empire Builder, CHI-DEN California Zephyr, or CHI-IND Cardinal setout cars (unsure on the NYP-RGH Carolinian) are specifically state-funded services. Similarly, I remember reading that Amtrak had either set NYP-ATL cars out regularly at Atlanta’s Atlantic Steel siding, or had explored doing so.