The worst was Auto Train, with an on-time rate of just 24.2%. The best on-time performance for any Amtrak route during the first quarter belonged to the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service, which recorded 95.1% customer on-time performance. “This report provides a meaningful tool for everyone - including customers, communities, and other stakeholders - to review comprehensive data on passenger rail performance.” “Customers deserve high quality, reliable passenger rail service without interference from freight trains that can cause substantial delay,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in a press release. Most of the stats had been included in the report on the fourth quarter of 2021. They measure on-time performance and train delays, customer service, financial performance, and public benefits. The latest quarterly stats are the first to use all of the metrics established by the FRA. WASHINGTON - Sixteen of 43 Amtrak routes - none of them long-distance operations - met the 80% customer on-time performance threshold established by the Federal Railroad Administration in first-quarter 2022 statistics released Tuesday by the FRA. The Hiawatha had the best on-time performance of any Amtrak service during the first quarter of 2022. Which means that Amtrak is simply not an option.A southbound Amtrak Hiawatha hurries through Deerfield, Ill., on a frigid Feb. And several other arrivals would have resulted in a whole lot of worry - and the possibility that I would miss my flight. On the day of the week that I need to arrive, over 50% of the arrivals would have resulted in my missing my flight. The scenery isn't exactly compelling at that time of day, but I wanted to support Amtrak.Īnd then I pulled up the on-time history for the Southwest Chief. That would leave me plenty of time to catch my flight at LAX. The train departs Palm Springs at 2:02 AM and arrives in Los Angeles at 5:35 AM. As much as I hate getting up in the middle of the night, I thought that I would take the Southwest Chief from Palm Springs to Los Angeles. I am now re-booked to fly out of Palm Springs.īut then I had an idea. I hear a lot about how important long distance routes are to people who are boarding at "points in between." But with the abysmal on-time performance, there have to be a lot of people in my situation who want to take the train - but just can't. Which means that Amtrak is simply not an option. The scenery isn't exactly compelling at that time of day, but I wanted to support Amtrak.Īnd then I pulled up the on-time history for the Sunset Limited. As much as I hate getting up in the middle of the night, I thought that I would take the Sunset Limited from Palm Springs to Los Angeles. The downside is that my original flight had just one layover - whereas the only flights now available have two layovers.īut then I had an idea. My first inclination was to call the airline and have them re-book me on a flight that departed from Palm Springs. The flight departs Los Angeles at about 9:30 AM. On their own, the airline scheduled me to depart from Los Angeles rather than Palm Springs.
My return flight was cancelled by the airline. I have a business trip to Palm Springs in October. They are wholly at the mercy of the host railroads. There are a lot of things within Amtrak's control that they can improve, particularly consistency of onboard service. It is yet to be seen whether that will have an effect other than lengthening schedules in the renegotiation with the host railroads required by the STB befolre enforcement begins, as happened with NS for the Crescent. But we are in the very early days of that regimen. Amtrak is almost universally viewed as an operational impediment by the host railroads, more so now in these days of PSR.Īmtrak's leverage may now be changing a bit with the very recent acquisition by the STB of the ability to enforce passenger delay rules.
Also, the statutorily mandated very low, avoidable cost based track access rates that Amtrak enjoys gives host railroads little incentive to improve their handling (negotiated bonuses aside). Historically, while Amtrak has always had a statutory right to priority, Amtrak was not given legal and regulatory tools to enforce it with.
They are subject to host railroad dispatching and operating conditions. Amtrak realizes timekeeping is important, but outside the NEC they have no control over it at all.
0 kommentar(er)
