July 2023 Amtrak Financial Report
These are the items that I noticed in the report that were interesting to me:
The July Report was dated August 30, 2023, and posted on September 1, 2023.
The NEC generated year to date a cash operating surplus of $160.5 million (as determined by their accounting system) and the remainder of the system had an operating cash loss of $762.2 million. Combined the entire system had for the period a cash operating deficit of $601.8 million.
Year to date, the NEC made debt service payments totaling $135.8 million and capital expenditures of $135.8 million. Counting all capital sources, the NEC Account has a positive balance of $807.8 million. It also has the cash reserves remaining from previous years.
For the rest of the National System, $6.2 million was needed for Debt service, and $986.2 million was spent on Capital Expenditures. The National Network Account Balance now has a positive balance of $300.3 million. It also has the accumulated surplus from previous years.
The amount of appropriated money for the combined NEC and National Network received for the year to date was $3.4 billion. Amtrak has also received from other capital sources $755.3 million for the entire system.
The combined accumulated reserves at the beginning of the 2023 fiscal year totaled $299.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, $123.9 million in short-term investments, and $2.9 billion in available-for-sale securities. This brings total cash reserves as of October 1, 2022, to $3.3 billion. The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 1.894, making Amtrak quite credit-worthy for any fresh borrowings even though it is slightly down from last year.
In October 2022, Amtrak’s burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $210.3 million. November’s burn rate was $318.8 million, December's was $256.4 million, January's was $271.7 million, February's was $295.2 million, March's was $324.2 million, April's was $273.9 million., May’s was $345.2 million, June’s was $412.8 million, and July’s was $388.8 million.
Capital Spending for the year to date was:
Infrastructure Services $893.8 million
Mechanical $294.6 million
Operations $10.5 million
Digital Technology $228.1 million
Commercial and Marketing $2.0 million
ADA $106.6 million
Real Estate Stations & Facilities $53.0 million
Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $7.0 million
Safety $5.6 million
Environmental $4.8 million
Procurement $2.2 million
Acela 21 $137.7 million
Gateway $193.6 million
Planning & Strategy $78.6 million
B&P Tunnel $75.7 million I
ntercity Trainsets: $265.7 million
The total was $2.4 billion, which is $655.8 million more than the same period last year.
The GAAP Loss for the year so far appears to be $1.4 billion, which is $130.4 million better than FY2022. The cash operating earnings for the year was $189.9 million, better than in FY2022.
For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $43.4 million ahead of its forecast. The GAAP figure is $56.3 million, better than the Forecast.
The number of product lines showing a measurable operating surplus for the period was six. The three with a surplus over $1 million were:
Northeast Regional $106.7 million
Acela $92.2 million
Auto Train $17.4 million
The Hoosier State (which has not run for several years) is still shown as profitable to the tune of $0.9 million and listed as one of those six.
The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $20.4 million. (This is a $4 million improvement over the June figure.)
Amtrak is now showing costs based on Frequency Variable Costs, Route Variable Costs, and System Fixed Costs. Most trains covered their Frequency Variable Costs. The exceptions were the Illinois Zephyr and all of the long-distance trains, not including the Auto train, Silver Meteor, and Palmetto. The Gulf Coast Ltd., which has not started running, is shown as not meeting its variable costs.
The capacity of most long-distance trains remains constrained. The Capitol Ltd. is still mostly running with only one coach, one sleeper, and a cross-country diner, and consequently is showing a significant loss of passengers compared to the previous year to date.
Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is up more than 4,728,000 from FY2022. For the year, it stands at 23,088.900 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in July was 2,764.300. The situation with the long-distance trains shows a gain of riders across most product lines, except the Silver Star, Coast Starlight, and Capitol Ltd. The Star has lost riders to the Silver Meteor now that it has been restored. The starvation level of its consist can explain the Capitol. The Silver Meteor was the biggest winner at a +194.8% gain in the new fiscal year so far. The City of New Orleans was second at a 481% gain. The lines that showed the smallest ridership gains after the Star, Starlight, and the Capitol. Ltd was the Auto Train at +1.8% and the Cardinal at +4.2%. The Acela gained 43.3%.
With Congress still on recess (what else is new!) for the Jewish High Holidays. The House version of the THUD is not likely to reach the full House in September. The Senate version is in a minibus with the MILCON and Agriculture bills and is expected to pass the Senate soon. (With Congress, soon would be a relative term). There is a possibility the three budget bills would get severed, but the odds favor them remaining in one piece of legislation. Then the bill (bills) move(s) to the House. Here, the speaker is having problems bringing any appropriation bill to the floor of the house. The House Rules Committee has passed a rule for the Defense Appropriation Bill, but the Speaker has not allowed that budget bill to be debated. Usually when the Senate approves alternate legislation than what is passed by the House, the House first votes on whether or not to accept that legislation. If the House rejects the Senate Amendment, it goes to reconciliation. After the two sides reach a consensus, the House and Senate must vote on the reconciliation. The bill then goes to the President. There is a serious question of whether the House Freedom Caucus will permit the passage of any appropriation bill becoming law are opposed to any continuing resolution as they would rather shut the government down. They will also object and try to defeat a minibus containing multiple budget bills. Amtrak has sufficient funds to continue without a fresh appropriation for several months. However, the question remains: would Amtrak’s management decide to use this excuse to shut down some of the long-distance lines?
Amtrak has announced that if it gets sufficient funding for FY2024, it intends to bring 48 cars out of storage and restore out of wreck status another 15 cars. In total, 63 cars, 23 of them are Superliners, including nine Transition/Sleeper/Dorms and five Sightseer lounges. In addition, the Capitol, Ltd is expected to get its second Sleeper back this fall.
Rumors suggest the Texas Eagle may get traditional dining back between San Antonio and Chicago. Sunset’s Diner is already servicing the San Antonio and Los Angeles extensions. Additional sleeper space would be needed to handle the expanded crew. A transition sleeper provides eight additional revenue roomettes and frees up at least two roomettes in a superliner sleeper currently reserved for the crew. If this rumor pans out, expect a sleeper or a transition dorm to be added to the Eagle. (The current food service is a cross-country dinner, which contains a small lounge section. The diner portion is limited to the sleeping car passengers, and the lounge serves what passes as food to the riders in the coach.)
Steve Musen, Representative from Rhode Island to NARP’s Council of Representatives