Amtrak carried 83.6 percent as many passenger-miles in June 2022 as it did in June 2019, according to the monthly performance report it posted yesterday. That’s an increase from 78.5 percent in May.
See yesterday’s Antiplanner for sources of transit and airline data.
Relative to its pre-pandemic numbers, Amtrak passenger-miles have been rising at about 5.5 percent per month. In terms of actual passenger-miles, they have been rising at 20 percent per month. However, much of Amtrak ridership is seasonal and it is normal for June ridership to be much higher than February’s. In 2019, for example, June’s passenger-miles were 125 percent greater than February’s compared with only 107 percent in 2022.
Still, this is Amtrak’s best performance since the pandemic began. Of course, Amtrak is losing a lot more money than it was losing before. Amtrak’s fiscal year begins on October 1, and in fiscal year 2022 to date, it has lost $1.66 billion, almost double the $842 million it lost in the same period in 2019. In June 2022 alone, Amtrak lost $193.1 million, more than twice the $86.1 million it lost in June 2019.
(These numbers count operating costs, including depreciation, but not capital costs. They also deduct state subsidies from revenues, as Amtrak deceptively counts such subsidies as “passenger related revenue.”)
Why is Amtrak losing so much more than in previous months when its ridership is up? The answer seems to be that its expenses have increased by much more than its ridership. Although Amtrak operated 10 percent fewer train miles in June 2022 than in June 2019, it spent 32 percent more doing so, which means that its cost per train-mile grew by 46 percent. Whether due to increased labor costs or simply that Congress is giving Amtrak too much money, Amtrak costs are clearly out of control.
In its best year ever, Amtrak only managed to attract one one trip per 10 years per capita and, as the Antiplanner alludes, it’s ridership is seasonal, meaning it’s used more by vacationers than by travelers.
In spite of that pathetic history, the president known as Amtrak Joe gifted Amtrak with $66 billion over 5 years.
Even if Amtrak were to double it’s best ridership over all 5 years (from 33 million/year to 66 million/year), $66 billion divided by 330 million trips would amount to a $200/trip subsidy.
”
Although Amtrak operated 10 percent fewer train miles in June 2022 than in June 2019, it spent 32 percent more doing so, which means that its cost per train-mile grew by 46 percent. Whether due to increased labor costs or simply that Congress is giving Amtrak too much money, Amtrak costs are clearly out of control.
” ~antiplanner
Well, we did have that report awhile back saying Amtrak wasn’t capable as an organization to handle the hiring + training needed to replace those leaving.
And we know the job market in general is pretty tight.
Seems like a bad chance Amtrak is running those trains using a lot of overtime.
I see a an almost mirror image in the rise in Amtrak with the drop in flying. My guess is that people are sick of canceled flights and some have opted to take the train for medium-haul trips. There’s no telling how long that trend could last. If the current recession deepens and goes on for a couple more quarters, demand for all modes of travel will drop off.
CapitalistRoader,
The problem with the mirror image is that the chart is in percentages not total ridership or PM. Airlines carry roughly 100 times as many passengers as Amtrak, so only a tiny share of the decrease in air travel was taken up by Amtrak.