April 2025 Amtrak Financial Report
The April Report was dated May 30, 2025, and posted on June 2, 2025.
.The NEC generated for the year so far, a cash operating surplus of $197.746 million (as determined by their accounting system), and the remainder of the system had an operating cash loss of $592.818 million. Combined, the entire system had a cash operating deficit of $395.072 million for the period.
Year-to-date, the NEC made debt service payments totaling $435.711 million and capital expenditures of $2.0 billion. Counting all capital sources, the NEC Account has a negative balance of $112.387 million. It also has the cash reserves remaining from previous years. The amount for debt service paid in April was considerable.
For the rest of the National System, $0.00 million was needed for Debt service, and $1.0 billion was spent on Capital Expenditures. The National Network Account Balance now has a positive balance of $268.7 million. It also has the accumulated surplus from previous years.
The amount of appropriated money for the combined NEC and National Network received to date for the year was $3.3 billion. Amtrak has also received $783.6 million from other capital sources for the entire system.
The combined accumulated reserves at October 1, 2024, totaled $254 million in cash and cash equivalents,
$222 million in short-term investments,
$3.2 billion in available-for-sale securities.
This brings total cash reserves as of October 1, 2024, to $3.7 billion.
The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 1.43, which would make Amtrak quite creditworthy for any fresh borrowings.
In October 2024, Amtrak’s burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $412.876 million.
In November, the burn rate was $437.394 million.
In December, the burn rate was $419.605 million.
In January, the burn rate was $645.293 million.
In February, the burn rate was $707.837 million.
In March, the burn rate was $516.407 million.
In April, the burn rate was $737.818 million.
Capital Spending for the year to date totals $3.0 billion and breaks down into categories:
Capital Renewal $540.1 million
Mechanical $383.3 million
Operations $16.5 million
Digital Technology $176.0 million
ADA $104.1 million
Stations & Facilities $47.6 million
Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $0.0 million
Safety $0.7 million
Environmental $1.9 million
Procurement and other $1.5 million
Acela 21 $79.7 million
Mega Program is separated into:
Bridges and Tunnel $707.6 million
Mega Program $26.4 million
Real Estate, Strategy & Planning $130.4 million
B&P Tunnel $210.2 million
Intercity Trainsets $26.8 million
Major Stations $136.2 million
Long-Distance Equipment Procurement $4.4 million.
Facilities $188.3 million
Power $11.7 million
The total was $1.1 billion more than in FY2024 for the same period.
The GAAP Loss for the year so far appears to be $1.1 billion, which is $101.3 million better than the same period in FY2024. The cash operating earnings for the year were $135.3 million, surpassing those of FY2024.
For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $35.5 million ahead of its year-to-date prediction. The GAAP figure is $167.0 million better than the Forecast.
The number of product lines showing an operating surplus for the period was five. The four that were measurable:
Acela $98.2 million
Northeast Regional $101.0 million
Auto Train $7.3 million
Maple Leaf $3.1 million
The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $15.6 million.
Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is more than 1,095,800 from FY2024. For the year, it stands at 19,517,700 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in April was 2,848.500.
As noted, the entire Horizon Fleet has been taken out of service due to structural problems identified in recent examinations. Amtrak is investigating whether a small number of them are worth repairing. It has been reported that the cost of repairing the better ones is not sustainable.
President Trump issued a budget request for Amtrak that totals $850.0 million for the NEC and $1.6 billion for the National Network. The total is $2.4 billion compared to $2.4 billion in FY2025 and FY2026. He has moved some money from NEC to the National Network.
However, Trump's "overwhelming, ugly bill" is likely to increase the National Debt by over $3.5 trillion. As it stands now, the annual interest on the current debt is one of the two largest components of the federal budget. Passage of the bill in the form passed by the House is likely to exacerbate inflation on top of the existing mess caused by the President's tariffs. The result is likely to lead to higher interest rates to combat inflation. That would cause the annual interest owed on the national debt to explode beyond the current massive levels.
While the obvious answer is to cut the size of the proposed tax cuts, the MAGA types in the Senate want to reduce authorized spending even further than the $2 trillion suggested in the House Bill. It may be impossible to have a balanced budget even if all appropriated funding, including the Defense Department, were eliminated. Even Elon Musk has denounced the bill that emerged from the House.
The Senate GOP has decided to treat only the additional tax cuts as an increase in the existing debt. Currently, the debt is over $1 trillion annually. Some are even claiming that the increased economic activity will generate enough extra tax revenue to cover the deficit.
Interestingly, if the tax cuts in the bill were totally eliminated, the additional revenue would require much smaller reductions in authorized spending to achieve a balanced budget.
Amtrak has released a legislative request for FY2026. They are requesting the same amounts as those proposed in the Trump Budget. That amount of money, combined with the pre-approved funds in the final year of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), is sufficient for the corporation to maintain progress in FY2026. However, it does require another bill to be passed to have sufficient funds to purchase replacements for the Superliners.
Trump has dropped the bunker-busting bombs on Iran. This is likely to reshape the budget for FY2026, along with the Middle East.
Steve Musen, Representative from Rhode Island to NARP's Council of Representatives