Preliminary results for the October 1 2018-September 30 2019 financial year include operating revenue of $US 3.3bn, a 3.6% increase over 2018; an 82.6% reduction in its operating loss from $US 170.6m in 2018 to $US 140.9m in 2019; a 2.5% increase in ridership to 32.5 million passenger journeys; and a 9.4% jump in capital investment to $US 1.6 billion.
Amtrak says it is the first US railway to implement a safety management system, which it says resulted in a 26% reduction in passenger incidents, 72% fewer serious employee injuries, a 10% reduction in Federal Railroad Administration-reportable injuries, and a 3% reduction in trespasser and level crossing incidents.
Additionally, Positive Train Control (PTC) installation was completed on nearly all Amtrak-owned and controlled track, except for about 1.6km of restricted-speed track in the Chicago Terminal area.
Amtrak’s $US 1.6bn of capital investments in 2019 included:
• a $US 437m programme to refresh interiors on the Acela Northeast Corridor (NEC) fleet and Amfleet II locomotive-hauled coaches along the East Coast.
• NEC state-of-good-repair projects totalling $US 713m for repair or replacement of 7340m of catenary, 79,985 concrete sleepers and 1784 bridge ties, and 455km of high-speed track surfacing.
• a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new fleet of single-deck passenger coaches to replace Amfleet I vehicles, the oldest in the fleet, and
• $US 143m for station improvements.
