Evil Airline CEO nearly gets Amtrak to Break Even
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 12:28 pm
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amtrak-see ... lista_pos3
WASHINGTON—Amtrak inched closer to breaking even last year, the company reported Friday, as rising ridership and cost cuts continued a multiyear improvement in the railroad’s financial performance.
Amtrak reported an adjusted operating loss of $29.8 million across the entire national railroad network, significantly beating a previous target of a loss of $75 million in the 2019 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Its operating loss in fiscal 2018 was $170.6 million.
Operating revenue rose to $3.3 billion, the company said, an increase of 3.6% over fiscal 2018.
The railroad’s fortunes were boosted by rising ridership in a strong economy. The railroad recorded 32.5 million customer trips, a record that surpassed the previous year by 800,000.
Ridership on the premium Acela service on the Northeast Corridor grew more than 4%, and was up almost 3% on Northeast regional trains. Ridership on long-distance trains—which have been plagued by delays and unreliability—also grew by almost 1%, the company said.