Hotline #990: Amtrak Celebrates Record Earnings and Surge in Ridership; Congress Willing to...

Amtrak announced record earnings for fiscal year 2016, which ended on September 30, bringing in $2.14 billion in unaudited ticket revenue, a $12 million increase over the past year. This record was driven by surging demand for trains; Amtrak carried 31.3 million passengers in the past year, 400,000 more than last year. Amtrak also noted several contributing factors to the transit agency’s success in 2016, including the addition of cars for lines that saw increased demand or were regularly sold-out; improved on-time performance, and allowing customers to bring pets and bikes on Amtrak routes. Other notable figures from Amtrak’s financial reports include: Ticket sales and other revenue streams allowed Amtrak to cover 94 percent of its operating costs; Amtrak saw an unaudited operating loss of $227 million, $78 million less than 2015; This is the sixth consecutive year that Amtrak carried more than 30 million customers. In addition,

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