rohr turbo wrote: ↑Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:20 pm
Average length of a pro basketball or hockey game is 2.5 hours. Do you propose telling the concessionaires there that they are wasting their time -- that no one could possibly want food at the arena?
Point is that people may decide to eat or drink at any time, if the offerings are good.
And FWIW, that site shows avg. trip length on Empire is 188 miles (~4 hours.)
I was responding specifically for the NEC Regionals, not the Empire Service trains. But let's look at them if you so desire more closely.
https://www.railpassengers.org/site/ass ... 52/15a.pdf
Empire/Maple Leaf service
Trips by length, 2019
0- 99 mi 21.8%
100- 199 mi 59.5%
200- 299 mi 8.0%
300- 399 mi 4.2%
400- 499 mi 6.5%
500+ mi <0.1%
Passengers 1,587,354
Average trip 162 miles
A similar average trip distance, but a higher percentage of passengers are riding further than on the NEC Regionals. Never-the-less 81.3% of the passengers are on trips less than 200 miles.
Even at a low average speed of 50 mph, over 80% of the passengers are on the train for less than 4 hours.
So how many of them are on the train over 300 and 400 miles?
Some math
1,587,354 per year / 365 days per year = 4,349 passengers per day
Back in 2019, there were 9 trains in each direction not including the Lake Shore Limited, or 18 trains a day.
Some more math fun,
4,349 passengers per day / 18 trains a day = 242 passengers per train
over 300 miles = 0.108 x 242 = 26 passengers per train over 300 miles
over 400 miles = -.066 x 242 = 16 passengers per train over 400 miles
less than 300 miles = 242 - 16 = 226 passenger per train less than 300 miles
How many of those 26 passengers are going to be willing to pay $20 per meal including drinks at the cafe?