Amtrak is ending daily service to hundreds of stations. Blame the coronavirus pandemic, Amtrak says.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Jun 17, 2020, 10:49 AM - Edit history (2)

Hat tip, Greater Greater Washington

Breakfast links: Many long distance Amtrak routes will no longer offer daily service
By Nicole Cacozza (Contributor) June 17, 2020

Amtrak is cutting back rail service nationwide
Amtrak will cut service to its 15 long distance routes from daily to three days a week, impacting 461 stations. It will also cut service in the busy Northeast Corridor by 32% starting this fall. The drastic cuts are a response to cratering ridership and revenue from the pandemic. (Luz Lazo / Post)

Gridlock

Amtrak is ending daily service to hundreds of stations. Blame the coronavirus pandemic, the railroad says.
Reduced schedules begin Oct. 1, affecting stations across the country

By Luz Lazo
June 16, 2020 at 5:33 p.m. EDT

Amtrak is ending daily service to hundreds of stations outside the Northeast, and you can blame the coronavirus pandemic, the railroad said this week. ... Starting Oct. 1, most Amtrak long-distance trains will operate three times a week instead of daily, the company said in a memo to employees Monday. ... The carrier is also planning to enter fiscal year 2021 with reduced train frequencies in the Northeast Corridor, the busiest in its network, and on its state-funded routes, the company said.

The downsized operations come as Amtrak prepares to cut up to 20 percent of its staff in response to the financial crisis left by the pandemic. Demand for service — and the company’s revenue — plummeted to historic lows starting in mid-March as states implemented strict coronavirus shutdowns.

“Congress is not going to support us indefinitely to run mostly empty trains,” Roger Harris, Amtrak’s executive vice president and chief marketing and revenue officer, said in the memo to employees. “We need to demonstrate that we are using our resources efficiently and responsibly.”

{snip}

The Auto Train, which travels from the Washington suburbs of Lorton, Va., to the Orlando area, is the only long-distance route that will continue to operate daily, Amtrak said. According to the company, the Auto Train has remained strong, even during the pandemic, maintaining a loyal ridership of people who seasonally migrate between Florida and the Northeast.

{snip}

Amtrak’s two existing triweekly trains — the Sunset Limited (New Orleans to Los Angeles) and the Cardinal (New York-Washington-Chicago) — will remain triweekly. ... The following routes will go from daily operations to three times a week: California Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco), Capitol Limited (Washington to Chicago), City of New Orleans (Chicago to New Orleans), Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles), Crescent (New York City to New Orleans), Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle), Lake Shore Limited (New York to Chicago), Palmetto (New York to Savannah, Ga.), Silver Star (New York to Miami), Southwest Chief (Chicago to Los Angeles) and Texas Eagle (Chicago to San Antonio).

Luz Lazo
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Follow https://twitter.com/luzcita

At Trainorders:

Passenger Trains > Long Distance going tri-weekly

Passenger Trains > Amtrak long distance trains going to tri weekly service

That thread contained this comment:

Date: 06/15/20 14:19
Re: Amtrak long distance trains going to tri weekly service
Author: joemvcnj

another_view Wrote:

> There is no doubt that there are substantial
> savings to be realized, IF the reductions are done
> thoughtfully and business like. During the
> previous cuts the truly hard decisions were not
> implemented due to objections from labor
> organizations and Operations department
> resistance.

As usual, you do not look at revenue nor at history, and you fail to show why Amtrak exists. It is to run intercity passenger service, not be the NEC and deem all else to be a hobby. The Mercer frequency cuts failed miserably and were rescinded. "Labor" and "operations department" had nothing to do with it.

What the hell does "thoughtful and business like" mean ? That is clueless MBA claptrap.

What are you going to do with mis-connects between trains at Chicago ? Put people up in hotels for 2 or 3 days ?

If one takes the Capitol Ltd to Chicago, and The Zephyr does not run that day, the entire business is lost.

Reducing service to 23 states to tri-weekly will bite you in the ass when it comes to NEC funding from Congress. Telling people their service will run hourly instead of half-hourly is one thing. Telling them their train will only run every 2 or 3 days is another. This is not Canada.

Airnet-21 needs to be created and take the NEC away from Amtrak, who are too arrogant to come clean with their accounting.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/20 15:10 by joemvcnj.

RAILnet-21