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Reports

Amtrak Timeliness Study Results

October 1, 2004 admin

September, 2004

Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers (MARP) has conducted a timeliness study for AMTRAK trains serving the state of Michigan. The study period covers September 1 through September 30, 2004. Data for the study was obtained directly from AMTRAK’s website-based train status database.

Data was collected by four MARP members who were each assigned specific trains: Blue Water-Kaz Fujita; Pere Marquette-John Langdon; Wolverine eastbound-Jim Wallington; and Wolverine westbound-Mike Whims. MARP wishes to thank these members for their valuable efforts.

The study was prompted by continued complaints from passengers regarding AMTRAK’s timeliness performance. A preliminary study conducted by MARP in June-July, 2004 indicated serious timeliness delays, some of which were considered perhaps due to startup problems on the Blue Water and other non-recurring events. The September study is both a confirmatory study and a baseline against which future studies will be compared.

The results of the September study indicate that serious deficiencies exist in AMTRAK’s ability to deliver timely service on Michigan’s ten (10) daily trains. On average, an eastbound passenger could rely on reaching a train’s final Michigan destination city on-schedule only 36% of the time, and a westbound passenger could rely on an on-schedule arrival in Chicago only 9% of the time.

The September study results indicate that performance varies from train to train. The westbound trips are clearly less reliable than eastbound, and the somewhat subjective honor of the worst performance is shared by the Blue Water westbound and the Wolverine mid-day westbound #353 trains. In fact, anyone who rode the #353 Wolverine train never reached Chicago on time during September.

This report includes a summary sheet of performance data by train, followed by the actual data collected by each member. Although data format used by each member differs, a standard convention is utilized where (+) indicates lateness. Also, an early arrival is counted as on time in the summaries. A cancelled train (due to freight problems for instance) was not counted in the averaging.

      MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS				
                 September, 2004 AMTRAK Timeliness Study Results				

BLUE WATER West #365 			Dp PTH	Dp LNS	Dp BTL	Ar CHI
% of time train met schedule		90%	20%	7%	3%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	0.8	32.8	45.0	71.8

BLUE WATER East #364 			Dp CHI	Dp BTL	Dp LNS	Ar PTH
% of time train met schedule		87%	10%	0%	30%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	7.5	27.4	37.6	39.4

PERE MARQUETTE West #371 		Dp GRR	Dp HOM	Dp NBM	Ar CHI
% of time train met schedule		100%	7%	3%	10%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	0.0	6.3	18.6	25.5

PERE MARQUETTE East #370 		Dp CHI	Dp NBM	Dp HOM	Ar GRR
% of time train met schedule		90%	28%	24%	31%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	0.4	14.3	16.3	14.3

WOLVERINE early West #351 		Dp PNT	Dp DET	Dp BTL	Ar CHI
% of time train met schedule		69%	0%	0%	10%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	5.1	18.9	33.1	32

WOLVERINE mid-day West #353 		Dp PNT	Dp DET	Dp BTL	Ar CHI
% of time train met schedule		38%	0%	0%	0%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	14.7	26.6	46.0	42.5

WOLVERINE evening West #355 		Dp PNT	Dp DET	Dp BTL	Ar CHI
% of time train met schedule		79%	18%	3%	23%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	7.5	19.6	30.4	28.3

WOLVERINE early East #350 		Dp CHI	Dp BTL	Dp DET	Ar PNT
% of time train met schedule		80%	17%	30%	30%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	9.8	25.3	29.5	31.9

WOLVERINE mid-day East #352 		Dp CHI	Dp BTL	Dp DET	Ar PNT
% of time train met schedule		83%	23%	17%	20%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	3.8	25.3	30.6	29.1

WOLVERINE evening East #354 		Dp CHI	Dp BTL	Dp DET	Ar PNT
% of time train met schedule		90%	20%	33%	30%
Ave. departure from schedule (min.)	1.1	15.6	15.1	16.3

Data source: AMTRAK

Ridership statistics

Amtrak – September 2004 ridership stats

September 30, 2004 admin

See below…

September FY04

		Ridership					Ticket Revenue
					% change vs.					% change vs.
Short Distance		FY04	FY03	Budget*	FY03	Budget	FY04	FY03	Budget*	FY03	Budget
1 – Acela		218,449	204,700	205,142	+6.7	+6.5	$25,120,505	$23,220,467	$25,807,468	+8.2	-2.7
2 – Metroliner		17,626	52,791	53,190	-66.6	-66.9	$1,785,631	$5,473,039	$6,122,694	-67.4	-70.8
3 – Ethan Allen		7,644	8,104	8,100	-5.7	-5.6	$310,370	$317,291	$344,777	-2.2	-10.0
4 – Vermonter		18,059	18,589	19,133	-2.9	-5.6	$973,583	$937,016	$1,036,563	+3.9	-6.1
5 – Regional		503,079	463,068	517,700	+8.6	-2.8	$24,659,121	$23,132,317	$25,800,481	+6.6	-4.4
9 – Downeaster		20,557	19,215	20,022	+7.0	+2.7	$288,861	$292,557	$294,431	-1.3	-1.9
13 – Clocker		160,395	162,331	164,937	-1.2	-2.8	$1,451,154	$1,578,465	$1,662,491	-8.1	-12.7
14 – Keystone		72,025	70,462	76,705	+2.2	-6.1	$1,524,436	$1,571,760	$1,874,215	-3.0	-18.7
15 – Empire		80,905	83,508	87,036	-3.1	-7.0	$3,120,273	$3,260,874	$3,353,174	-4.3	-6.9
20 – Chicago-St. Louis		16,431	14,675	16,542	+12.0	-0.7	$327,090	$292,536	$316,827	+11.8	+3.2
21 – Hiawatha		37,875	35,365	34,419	+7.1	+10.0	$621,744	$585,794	$568,724	+6.1	+9.3
22 – Wolverine		27,279	24,057	24,890	+13.4	+9.6	$741,057	$701,220	$660,117	+5.7	+12.3
23 – Illini		9,896	8,289	9,126	+19.4	+8.4	$265,560	$235,058	$210,538	+13.0	+26.1
24 – Illinois Zephyr		8,235	7,910	8,552	+4.1	-3.7	$182,690	$178,621	$164,666	+2.3	+10.9
29 – Heartland Flyer		3,486	2,808	1,888	+24.1	+84.6	$61,346	$49,678	$33,247	+23.5	+84.5
35 – Pacific Surfliner		191,796	204,880	215,977	-6.4	-11.2	$2,856,777	$2,689,138	$2,871,139	+6.2	-0.5
36 – Cascades		47,974	45,386	49,503	+5.7	-3.1	$1,188,902	$1,107,638	$1,168,306	+7.3	+1.8
37 – Capitols		94,707	90,304	91,328	+4.9	+3.7	$1,037,899	$913,710	$937,028	+13.6	+10.8
39 – San Joaquins		53,500	56,132	57,269	-4.7	-6.6	$1,473,097	$1,673,678	$1,503,182	-12.0	-2.0
40 – Adirondack		10,246	10,331	11,922	-0.8	-14.1	$463,573	$456,379	$540,189	+1.6	-14.2
41 – Blue Water/International		7,219	5,914	5,856	+22.1	+23.3	$165,735	$154,189	$140,732	+7.5	+17.8
54 – Hoosier State		1,466	1,088	1,220	+34.7	+20.2	$23,590	$16,690	$10,540	+41.3	+123.8
56 – Kansas City-St. Louis		9,265	8,265	7,629	+12.1	+21.4	$217,125	$202,138	$162,997	+7.4	+33.2
57 – Pennsylvanian		11,972	10,912	10,442	+9.7	+14.7	$399,848	$385,461	$356,403	+3.7	+12.2
65 – Pere Marquette		6,278	4,277	4,719	+46.8	+33.0	$140,324	$102,798	$116,324	+36.5	+20.6
66 – Carolinian		21,393	23,607	20,077	-9.4	+6.6	$977,756	$1,149,343	$1,211,400	-14.9	-19.3
67 – Piedmont		2,833	2,585	2,515	+9.6	+12.6	$39,822	$33,006	$33,751	+20.7	+18.0
74 – Transbay Buses		–	–	–	–	–	$19,915	$25,922	$2,422	-23.2	+722.1
75 – Interline		–	–	–	–	–	$228,149	$407,334	$125,871	-44.0	+81.3
81 – Thruway Buses		–	–	–	–	–	$159,593	$203,925	$52,118	-21.7	+206.2
96/99 – Special Trains		2,965	8,675	3,480	-65.8	-14.8	$684,068	$709,162	$774,856	-3.5	-11.7
Short Distance Total		1,663,555	1,648,228	1,729,319	+0.9	-3.8	$71,509,593	$72,057,204	$78,257,672	-0.8	-8.6
Long Distance
16 – Silver Star		9,259	15,703	16,783	-41.0	-44.8	$701,490	$1,198,469	$1,626,679	-41.5	-56.9
17 – Three Rivers		11,343	10,949	10,071	+3.6	+12.6	$676,440	$650,451	$721,433	+4.0	-6.2
18 – Cardinal		6,712	5,237	5,320	+28.2	+26.2	$335,357	$221,514	$273,592	+51.4	+22.6
19 – Silver Meteor		10,512	16,794	17,233	-37.4	-39.0	$880,087	$1,381,315	$1,861,399	-36.3	-52.7
25 – Empire Builder		35,391	34,486	35,342	+2.6	+0.1	$3,520,062	$3,312,943	$3,429,697	+6.3	+2.6
26 – Capitol Ltd.		12,189	12,948	11,738	-5.9	+3.8	$825,638	$835,475	$868,207	-1.2	-4.9
27 – California Zephyr		25,940	26,513	27,034	-2.2	-4.0	$2,684,139	$2,838,903	$2,992,529	-5.5	-10.3
28 – Southwest Chief		22,283	23,503	24,116	-5.2	-7.6	$2,633,882	$2,642,661	$2,842,977	-0.3	-7.4
30 – City of New Orleans		13,787	13,368	13,326	+3.1	+3.5	$887,998	$739,701	$794,850	+20.0	+11.7
32 – Texas Eagle		15,704	15,833	16,620	-0.8	-5.5	$1,041,347	$1,046,876	$1,214,060	-0.5	-14.2
33 – Sunset Ltd.		4,565	7,543	7,946	-39.5	-42.5	$583,866	$894,060	$976,902	-34.7	-40.2
34 – Coast Starlight		32,517	35,802	36,656	-9.2	-11.3	$2,522,046	$2,603,744	$2,733,409	-3.1	-7.7
45 – Lake Shore Ltd.		21,458	21,838	20,490	-1.7	+4.7	$1,596,323	$1,581,381	$1,676,225	+0.9	-4.8
48 – Palmetto		9,607	13,620	14,050	-29.5	-31.6	$591,248	$862,135	$1,223,539	-31.4	-51.7
52 – Crescent		15,911	17,728	19,158	-10.2	-16.9	$1,401,643	$1,544,034	$1,896,829	-9.2	-26.1
63 – Auto Train		8,033	11,318	7,952	-29.0	+1.0	$1,721,015	$2,332,400	$2,770,564	-26.2	-37.9
Long Distance Total		255,211	283,183	283,835	-9.9	-10.1	$22,602,581	$24,686,060	$27,902,890	-8.4	-19.0

Amtrak Total		1,918,766	1,931,411	2,013,154	-0.7	-4.7	$94,112,173	$96,743,263	$106,160,563	-2.7	-11.3

Notes:	– September FY04 ridership and ticket revenues reflect deferred ridership of 38,515 and deferred ticket revenues of $2,033,641.
	– The data reflects new route definitions for FY04:
	1) the Adirondack, Ethan Allen, Vermonter, Carolinian, & Texas Eagle include trips on the entire train, with subsequent adjustments to Empire, Regional and Chicago-St. Louis;
	2) the Federal & Maple Leaf are included in Regional & Empire respectively.

*	Reflects revised September FY04 ridership and ticket revenue Budget at the route level. No Budget change was made at the overall Amtrak level.

Photo Gallery

Ogden Dunes

September 25, 2004 admin

Amtrak’s Wolverine Train passes through the Ogden Dunes area of Indiana on Septemeber 25, 2004. (Photo by J.R. Valderas)

Photo Gallery

MARP Excusion trip 2004

August 7, 2004 admin

Michigan has many excursion, tourist, museum and dinner railroad operations available for purely recreational trips. Pictured above is an August 2004 excursion train to the Boyne Fall’s Polish Festival by Lake Central Railroad Tours. Power was provided by the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway. (Photo by Larry Sobczak)