Volume 3 Number 47
- Memo To: Alex Kummant, Amtrak President and CEO Subject: Please take a ride on your Sunset LimitedMr. Kummant, we’ve all heard how pleased you were to ride the Coast Starlight, and how there is a possibility the Starlight will regain its rightful place as one of Amtrak’s premier long distance trains. The results of the Starlight come from the hard work of many dedicated Amtrak employees, both onboard and in management and support positions, who have worked many years to make sure this train represents everything a long distance passenger train in America can represent.
There is another train, also based in Los Angeles, that needs your attention and blessing. The Sunset Limited, which operates from the same crew base and maintenance base as the Starlight, has long been Amtrak’s best/worst train. Those of us, including this writer, who worked long and hard to make the Sunset the best train in Amtrak’s long distance system (including conceiving the groundbreaking 24 hour dining car concept and trial runs, plus the Coast to Coast Adventure plan to address chronic train delays due to host railroad congestion, and running a Sunset version of the Pacific Parlour Car on occasion when a tour company paid for the car and made it available to all sleeping car passengers).
The Sunset and its employees deserve your attention in a number of areas. Foremost, the Sunset needs to return to its tracks east of New Orleans, and come home to Florida. The gaping hole in Amtrak’s national route system is costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lost revenue not only from the Sunset itself, but connecting train opportunities, as well.
As America’s oldest, continuously operating named long distance train, the Sunset serves important markets all long its route, including the fringes of Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, and New Orleans, plus the Gulf Coast including Mobile and Pensacola, as well as Florida’ capital, Tallahassee. The Sunset is an important part of Florida’s tourism program, feeding passengers into Orlando, the world’s largest family vacation destination.
For too long, the Sunset has been burdened with most of the costs of daily train operations, but it only provides tri-weekly service. As I am sure you are personally aware, tri-weekly operation is the most expensive way of operating a passenger train while providing some of the fewest benefits for passengers and online cities and towns. When the Sunset runs its full route between Los Angeles and Orlando, it takes seven train sets to run daily service since it takes three nights travel time in each direction and one night for a layover. We know it will require more equipment, which you already have in storage in Beech Grove. The cost of making this equipment roadworthy again is far less than the revenue it will immediately begin to generate, plus with daily service, station, management and infrastructure costs will decrease per passenger because of more opportunities for more passenger to ride, and generate new revenues.
History tells us that prior to the Sunset’s extension to Florida in 1993, Amtrak reservation centers received over 75,000 requests a year for train service along the now-suspended Sunset route east of New Orleans. One can only speculate now what those numbers are with the increased interest in train travel.
Mr. Kummant, please take a ride on the Sunset Limited and see how marvelous this train is as part of Amtrak’s national system. The unique scenery in the Southwest is mesmerizing, the onboard service is good, and the route is impressive. An onboard survey done at the end of the 1990s showed the upscale clientele which rode the Sunset, including on any given day several passengers with doctorates, and a number of American Express Gold Card members. These are people who are willing to take the time to enjoy a pleasant rail journey, and are willing to spend the money to book sleeping car space. As on many trains, the bedrooms on the Sunset always sell out before the roomettes. Passengers are willing to pay the fare for a first class train journey. You need to accommodate them with a reinvigorated Sunset Limited.
Regarding the chronic tardiness of the Sunset, it’s about par with the Coast Starlight, perhaps a little less. A combination of telling passenger in advance what to expect (as we did with the Coast to Coast Adventure program), and providing dedicated good service onboard can turn a tardy journey into an extended pleasant journey.
Please, sir, take a serious look at your Sunset Limited. You can make the difference for this most worthy train. Here is a chart of information, with information provided by the Amtrak Controller’s Department on October 7, 2004 (the last full year the Sunset Limited operated normally).
Daily trains make 730 terminal departures a year (once a day, each direction). Tri-weekly trains make 312 departures a year. When comparing the tri-weekly Sunset Limited and Cardinal with the daily other long distance fleet trains, on an apples-to-apples comparison, the trains perform remarkably well financially. If these two trains were converted to daily operation, providing more departure opportunities for passengers, the Sunset Limited and Cardinal would perform at least as well as other trains such as the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, or Coast Starlight.
All figures are for FY 2004
Sunset Limited Revenue Passenger Miles - 110,842,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 131.1 Ridership - 96,400 Annual Farebox Revenue - $11,108,600 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 10.02 cents Load Factor - 59.0% Average Length of Trip - 1,149 miles per passenger Length of Route - 2,770 miles Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 309 Extrapolated, if this were a daily train (estimated) Revenue Passenger Miles - 259,341,850 (estimated) Ridership - 225,551 (estimated) Annual Farebox Revenue - $25,989,871 (estimated)
Cardinal Revenue Passenger Miles - 37,442,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 105.6 Ridership - 88,900 Annual Farebox Revenue - $4,410,900 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.78 cents Load Factor - 51.5% Average Length of Trip - 421 miles per passenger Length of Route - 1,147 miles Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 285 Extrapolated, if this were a daily train (estimated) Revenue Passenger Miles - 87,604,679 (estimated) Ridership - 208,003 (estimated) Annual Farebox Revenue - $10,320,375 (estimated)
Crescent Revenue Passenger Miles - 145,466,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 145.5 Ridership - 256,600 Annual Farebox Revenue - $22,255,800 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 15.30 cents Load Factor - 52.6% Average Length of Trip - 567 miles per passenger Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 352 Length of Route - 1,377 miles
Empire Builder Revenue Passenger Miles - 337,836,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 179.5 Ridership - 437,200 Annual Farebox Revenue - $39,130,700 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.58 cents Load Factor - 55.2% Average Length of Trip - 773 miles per passenger Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 599 Length of Route - 2,206 miles (Chicago to Seattle); 2,257 miles (Chicago to Portland)
California Zephyr Revenue Passenger Miles - 280,552,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 157.5 Ridership - 335,800 Annual Farebox Revenue - $31,387,100 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.19 cents Load Factor - 54.3% Average Length of Trip - 835 miles per passenger Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 460 Length of Route - 2,438 miles
Southwest Chief Revenue Passenger Miles - 312,645,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 189.6 Ridership - 290,000 Annual Farebox Revenue - $31,736,300 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 10.15 cents Load Factor - 63.2% Average Length of Trip - 1,078 miles per passenger Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 397 Length of Route - 2,256 miles
Coast Starlight Revenue Passenger Miles - 232,749,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 228.8 Ridership - 415,600 Annual Farebox Revenue - $28,903,500 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 12.42 cents Load Factor - 61.5% Average Length of Trip - 560 miles per passenger Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 569 Length of Route - 1,389 miles
Note: Most common carriers consider a 65% load factor to be a full load; at this point probably no endpoint-to-endpoint seats or accommodations are available due to sell-out conditions. Seats would be available for intermediate point travel on a random basis.
For comparison purposes, to determine the best investment of available capital from the federal government, take the selected long distance trains above, and compare them with the selected regional and short distance trains, below. Make your own conclusions, based on how a select few long distance trains generate revenue passenger miles, ridership per trip, and average length of trips, versus the combined performance of NEC and other regional services.
Acela NEC Service (All trains combined) Revenue Passenger Miles - 458,129,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 149.8 Ridership - 2,568,900 Annual Farebox Revenue - $294,654,400 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 64.32 cents Load Factor - 49% Average Length of Trip - 178.3 miles per passenger Length of Route - 457 miles
Metroliner (All trains combined) Revenue Passenger Miles - 61,713,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 112.3 Ridership - 397,600 Annual Farebox Revenue - $41,123,900 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 66.64 cents Load Factor - 36% Average Length of Trip - 155.2 miles per passenger Length of Route - 226 miles
NEC Regional (All trains combined) Revenue Passenger Miles - 995,476,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 180.9 Ridership - 6,405,100 Annual Farebox Revenue - $319,994,300 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 32.14 cents Load Factor - 44% Average Length of Trip - 155.4 miles per passenger Length of Route - 644 miles
Pacific Surfliner (All trains combined) Revenue Passenger Miles - 194,932,000 Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 129.6 Ridership - 2,334,700 Annual Farebox Revenue - $33,834,100 Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 17.36 cents Load Factor - 31% Average Length of Trip - 83.1 miles per passenger Length of Route - 351 miles
- Amtrak makes the point itself about the importance of the Sunset Limited running its full route from Los Angeles to Orlando. The following information came from Amtrak’s web site, this week.
Importance of the Long-Distance Trains
The route through the Northern part of the country, the Empire Builder, which carried over 437,000 passengers last year, is the only public transportation service in many communities in North Dakota, Montana and Northeastern Washington. For most of the states along the Empire Builder, tourism serves as a major economic engine. A recent study identifying the economic contributions of the Empire Builder demonstrated nearly $14 million in annual economic benefits to the state of Montana alone.
Long-distance trains also provide transportation during periods of severe weather conditions or emergencies that stall other modes of transportation. This was demonstrated after the September 11 terrorist attacks that grounded air travel. Additionally, these trains provide a strong economic benefit for the states and communities that they serve.
The majority of passengers on the long-distance trains do not travel between the endpoints, but rather to any combination of city pairs. For example, the Southwest Chief, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles via Kansas City, has 33 stops, creating 528 possible trip combinations.
Measuring Financial Performance of Long-Distance Trains
Most of Amtrak’s expenditures are due to the immense capital needs of its infrastructure, particularly the Northeast Corridor, not the operating costs of the long-distance trains. These operating cost figures should be cited with caution. Critics often refer to the “loss per passenger” of the long-distance trains. However, each long-distance train passenger is the equivalent of five short distance train passengers because of the greater distances traveled. More importantly, these “loss per passenger” figures often include not only the “avoidable” costs of operating individual long-distance trains (such as the cost of diesel fuel) but all of the shared costs that Amtrak incurs for the benefit of both long-distance and corridor trains (such as the cost of mechanical facilities, Amtrak’s computer systems, and stations like Los Angeles Union Station). Including shared costs produces inflated and misleading “loss” figures, since these costs will not go away if long-distance trains are eliminated.
Eliminating all long-distance trains would produce negligible cost savings in the first few years because Amtrak must pay labor protection to impacted employees. When these payments end after five years, the savings would still be minimal — around $300 million annually, or about a quarter of Amtrak’s annual appropriation in 2004 and 2005. Eliminating individual trains produces even fewer savings — most of the shared costs of Amtrak’s long-distance network, such as the costs of maintenance facilities that serve multiple long-distance trains, would remain.
Additionally, Amtrak continues to make changes to its long-distance trains that will improve revenue and finances for the system. Amtrak exited from the mail and express business in 2004, resulting in shorter and more convenient schedules, with reduced labor costs. The repair of wreck-damaged equipment continues and will allow Amtrak to increase capacity, and therefore revenues, on long-distance trains, which often sell out. These changes should help further reduce the losses of long-distance trains.
- Word arrived at URPA about a good Amtrak travel experience at the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday last week.
I arrived yesterday (Sunday, November 19th) in Jacksonville on No. 97 [The Silver Meteor]. I boarded in Trenton [New Jersey] where sleeping car attendant “Naim” pleasantly greeted me and welcomed me on board. Contrary to the negative comments I’ve read about “Diner Light,” it turned out to be “Diner Medium-Heavy.” The food was surprisingly good, with a nice, well cooked pork chop, potato and broccoli. Ice cream , unfortunately, is now just a memory and bacon is gone from the breakfast menu. The real disappointment, however, was the cheap imitation plastic disposable plates and cups, instead of the nice china, a victim of “Simplified Dining.” Another victim was the lone cook, obviously over-worked, but he did something I never saw before - he came out of the kitchen, went from table to table asking everyone how the food is, are you enjoying it and is it cooked just right? We all looked at each other in amazement! The three waiters provided excellent, friendly service. I wish I had written down their names.
The CSX trackage is smooth and 97 moved like a rocket on rails. Because of minimal freight traffic overnight and a heavily padded schedule, we arrived 15 minutes early!
By the way, the dining car still features nice silverware carefully wrapped in a cloth napkin, but plastic utensils are probably next, with paper napkins! My roomette was clean and the bed comfortable, but the lack of hot water was annoying!
I could have flown and saved about $500, but I hate the airlines and the dehumanizing, Nazi-like treatment when you check in - you have to take off your shoes, pull down your pants and get rid of your toothpaste and shampoo. On civilized Amtrak, however, my shoes stay on, my pants up and I keep my shaving razor, toothbrush and nail clippers! Such is the state of airline travel today in post-”911″ America. … Well, I’ll be here in Jacksonville until Nov. 28 and am certain I’ll have a good return trip, but I have plenty of time to return, and am hoping there’s a disabled CSX freight ahead and we detour via Waycross!!!
Thank you for all the fine work you do at URPA and your great newsletter!
- Here’s the reverse of that story, this time involving the California Zephyr.
The California Zephyr, departing Chicago on Monday, November 20th, got stuck in rural Iowa east of Osceola, behind a BNSF coal train derailment — for more than 10 hours. The local TV station quoted passengers as saying that NO Amtrak crew could be found on board to give passengers any information, all night long, and the 800 number operators were equally clueless, or prevaricating, all night long, and then, when movement was authorized past the wreck site, the driver and conductor had expired and the delay was extended waiting for a relief crew.
No explanation yet why the Zephyr couldn’t have advanced to the station at Osceola for the wait. According to the local television station, at some point, Amtrak did offer the stranded passengers complimentary food and beverages.
Two hundred and fifty passengers were on board. Downline, 30 passengers were bused between Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado, 72 passengers from Salt Lake City to Sacramento, and 80 more passengers between Reno and Sacramento.
Those numbers compare well to the pre-Thanksgiving crush load in the NEC on Wondertrain Acela 2151 (of Wednesday, November 22nd) enroute from Boston to Washington, DC, doing its 3 billion dollar job relieving the gridlock on I-95 and at Logan airport by transporting all of 57 passengers, when it broke down at 9:47 A.M. near Kingston, Rhode Island with a broken pantograph. Those 57 NEC passengers didn’t have to sit in the dark all night with no information or food, however, because they were soon transferred to 2153, which, miraculously, had open seats to handle all of them — on the day before Thanksgiving, in the vital NEC.
- Here’s a dreary piece of news. Amtrak has launched a motion picture marketing tie-in with the new Warner Brothers Pictures, “Unaccompanied Minors.”Beyond the good taste factor of America’s only passenger railroad doing a joint promotion with a movie about children traveling alone at Christmas and being stranded in an airport, it’s the prizes that really show a lack of understanding.
Grand prize for the promotion is four round-trip coach tickets to anywhere Amtrak serves. Big whoop.
Going back to basics, we know travel awarded as prizes is not charged to anyone’s budget, so the four tickets cost nothing. The winner will simply occupy otherwise vacant space. Let’s presume the prize winner lives, say, in West Virginia, and wants to go to Los Angeles and return for the prize. That means boarding a coach in West Virginia, and traveling all the way to Los Angeles and back (without intermediate stopovers, according to the rules) … in a coach. Keep in mind all of the connection possibilities between West Virginia and Los Angeles offer sleeping car accommodations (which fall under the same budget cost as coach seats - nothing). Here Amtrak ha a great opportunity to promote its best service - it’s highest revenue producing service - and it’s offering four coach seats.
Is it possible the Amtrak marketing department, as dismal as it is, is only thinking someone living on a corridor such as the NEC or the West Coast corridors are going to win and only want to travel in a short distance by coach? Does anyone in the Amtrak marketing department fully think these things through?
By all accounts, this is another gross error and missed opportunity.
- The Wall Street Journal and other August publications are reporting an effort by passenger jet manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, as well as the airlines they supply with planes, to raise customer satisfaction levels and increase returning passenger levels by (gasp!) coming up with new first class amenities and comforts, including better in-flight food service. These people have figured out that while a bus with wings may serve a part of the travel market, it doesn’t work for all of the travel market, and many passengers are willing to pay for better service and improved amenities. Amtrak, are you listening? VIA Rail Canada figured this out nearly 20 years ago.
- Amtrak equipment check: As of November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day, here is what Amtrak had available.Fleet out of service, locomotives - 11.1% Fleet out of service, passenger cars - 8.7%
System, passenger cars Active - 1,344 Required - 1,074 Available - 1,227
Comparison, January 22, 2003
System, passenger cars Active - 1,546 Available - 1,318
For those keeping score, that is 202 less cars in 2006 than in 2003. Plus, we know there are over 750 passenger cars in storage at Beech Grove and other locations, out of service. If Amtrak put all of its out of service passenger equipment back in the fleet, ready for service, either train lengths (and revenue streams) would be considerably larger, or many routes that now have minimal once a day service could be increased to twice daily service, plus, the Sunset Limited and Cardinal could be made daily and given the opportunity to be financial successes instead of whipping boys for Amtrak critics.