Amtrak Ridership, Revenue Growing, but Results Have Been Uneven Across the Network

Amtrak continues to make progress in clawing back ridership and revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic although individual routes have produced uneven results as the effects of the pandemic continue to linger.

Figures published on the website of Trains magazine show that during fiscal year 2022, which ended Sept. 30, Amtrak garnered $1.78 billion in gross ticket revenues. Ridership was 22.9 million passengers.

The report noted that revenue of $113 million posted by long-distance trains was up 24 percent over 2019.

Much of that increase was recorded by the Auto Train, which operates between Lorton, Virginia, and Sanford, Florida.

Revenue earned by Northeast Corridor and state-funded corridor trains fell by 30 percent.

The Trains report said Auto Train per passenger revenue increased 34 percent in FY 2022. The corresponding figures for state-funded trains was 2 percent while Acela and Northeast Regional per passenger ridership was down a negative 6.8 percent.

The Trains report concluded that long-distance trains have benefited from higher ticket prices, which was related to decreased capacity due to shortages of available equipment.

That is because Amtrak is reaping higher revenue yields from fewer passengers.

During the pandemic, Amtrak mothballed many passenger cars and furloughed workers.

Once demand picked up the company struggled to have enough mechanical workers to return those idled cars to revenue service.

Ridership data reported by Trains showed that corridor routes that are more dependent upon commuter travelers are generally lagging longer corridor routes as large numbers of workers continue to work remotely.

The Trains report can be read at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/capacitys-impact-shows-in-amtraks-fiscal-2022-revenue-and-ridership-analysis/

Amtrak Lost $1.08B in FY2021

Amtrak lost $1.08 billion in adjusted operating earnings during fiscal year 2021.

In a report summarizing its FY2021 activities, the passenger carrier blamed the loss largely on lost revenue from ridership plunges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report said Amtrak provided 12.2 million passenger trips, an increase of 4 million over FY2020 ridership.

Ridership in FY2021 was 42 percent over the goal and has now reached 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.  More than half of the FY2021 ridership came in the second half of the fiscal year.

Amtrak said it expects ridership in FY2022, which runs through Sept. 30, 2022, to be 80 percent of its pre-pandemic level.

The report emphasized that the fiscal results are preliminary. The adjusted operating earnings were $400 million “ahead of plan,” Amtrak said.

During FY2021, Amtrak said it advanced $2.2 billion in capital spending, including major milestones such as the acquiring property for the Hudson Tunnel Project between New Jersey and New York City and buying new multi-powered trainsets from Siemens Mobility.

FY2021 Figures Show How Much Ridership, Revenue Amtrak has Lost in the Pandemic

Amtrak’s fiscal year ended on Sept. 30 and information on how the passenger carrier performed during the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to trickle in and show the scope of how much revenue and ridership it lost.

The pandemic overlapped two fiscal years to date, 2020 and 2021. Amtrak’s fiscal year extends from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

In FY 2021, ticket revenue and ridership were both down 63 percent compared with FY 2019, the last “normal” year Amtrak had before the onset of the pandemic.

In FY 2021 Amtrak generated $882.8 million compared with FY 2019 mark of $2.3 billion.

Ridership in FY 2021 was 12.8 million passengers compared with 32.8 million in FY 2019.

All three of Amtrak’s services – long distance, Northeast Corridor and state-supported corridor services – lost revenue and ridership in FY 2021.

In response to the pandemic, Amtrak reduced service by offering fewer trains. Although no long-distance trains were suspended, all but the Auto Train operated on tri-weekly or quad-weekly schedules.

On a percentage basis, the long-distance trains lost the least amount of revenue with compared with FY 2019. The percentage loss was 33 percent.

State supported trains revenue fell by 61 percent while in NEC services fell by 74 percent.

Ridership on a percentage basis fell 51 percent in FY 2021 compared with FY 2019. The corresponding  percentage declines for state services and the NEC were 64 percent and 65 percent respectively.

Revenue for long distance trains for the past three fiscal years has been 330.7 million, 308.2 million and $494.6 million.

For state services it was 209.3 million, $281.7 million and 538.1 million. For the NEC the corresponding numbers are 882.8 million, 1,241.6 billion and $2.354.3 billion.

Ridership of long distance trains by fiscal year from 2021 to 2019 was 2,238.0 million, 2,689.5 million and 4,554.8 million.

For state service the ridership numbers for the same period are 5,519.9 million, 8,004.3 million and 15,438.8 million.

For the NEC the ridership numbers were 4,408.8 million, 6,417.5 million and 12,526.6 million.

It should be noted that FY 2020 straddled the pre-pandemic and pandemic eras.

Among the long distance trains, the Auto Train managed to earn more in FY 2021 (85.7 million) compared with FY 2019 (76.7 million).

One reason given for that was the fact that the Auto Train continued to operate daily between fall 2020 and late spring 2021 and high rental car prices in Florida triggered by a shortage of rental vehicles encouraged traveling to take their own vehicles on the Auto Train.

The Auto Train, though, had reduced capacity just as did other long distance trains.

Although most state corridor services that were suspended during the pandemic have been restored, corridor trains that extend in Canada are still not operating across the border due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.

This includes the New York-Montreal Adirondack, the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf and the Seattle-Vancouver Cascades. These continue operate within the United States.