March 2025 Amtrak Financial Report

• The March Report was dated April 30, 2025, and posted on May 6, 2025. 

• The NEC generated for the year so far, a cash operating surplus of $157.233 million (as determined by their accounting system), and the remainder of the system had an operating cash loss of $513.635 million. Combined, the entire system had a cash operating deficit of $356.402 million for the period.

• Year-to-date, the NEC has made debt service payments totaling $132.6 million and capital expenditures of $1.7 billion.  Counting all capital sources, the NEC Account has a positive balance of $24.699 million. It also has the cash reserves remaining from previous years.

• For the rest of the National System, $0.00 million was needed for Debt service and $907.7 million was spent on Capital Expenditures. The National Network Account Balance now has a negative balance of $411.6 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 $1.8 billion. Amtrak has also received $892.5 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, and $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 $412.9 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. 

• Capital Spending for the year to date totals $2.7 billion and breaks down into categories:

  • Capital Renewal $514.0 million

  • Mechanical $350.3 million

  • Operations $13.2 million

  • Digital Technology $152.6 million

  • ADA $89.1 million

  • Stations & Facilities $37.6 million

  • Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $2.0 million

  • Safety $0.9 million

  • Environmental $1.6 million

  • Procurement and other -$4.5 million (last month it was a positive $2.1 million)

  • Acela 21 $72.8 million

  • Mega Program lis separated into Bridges and Tunnel at $542.6 million and Mega Program at $18.7 Million

  • Real Estate, Strategy & Planning $113.0 million 

  • B&P Tunnel $162.2 million

  • Intercity Trainsets $23.6 million

  • Major Stations $121.8 million

  • Long-Distance Equipment Procurement $3.8 million.

  • Facilities $165.9 million

  • Power $10.9 million

  • Total was $993.7 million more than FY2024 for the same period.

• The GAAP Loss for the year so far appears to be $994.6 million, which is $77.4 million better than the same period in FY2024. The cash operating earnings for the year were $100.7 million, surpassing those of FY2024.

• For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $20.3 million ahead of its year-to-date prediction. The GAAP figure is $132.1 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 $78.9 million

  • Northeast Regional $78.5 million

  • Auto Train $4.3 million

  • Maple Leaf $2.9 million

• The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $12.5 million.

• Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is more than 953,200 from FY2024. For the year, it stands at 16,669.,200 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in March was 2,891.800. All of the Horizon Cars were pulled from service, requiring several cars in the east to be sent as replacements. Despite this reduction in carrying capacity, Amtrak was still able to increase the number of riders annually. However, during the winter months, there is usually an excess number of unfilled seats, which may not be the case during the warmer weather.

• As noted, the entire Horizon Fleet has been taken out of service due to structural problems identified in recent examinations. The elimination (temporary or permanent) left many corridor services with no functioning cars. As a result, the NEC is now reducing the number of cars on the Northeast Regionals and shipping the extra cars west. Additionally, structural issues are reducing the number of Acela Train sets that can be used. The increase in ridership on the Acela could grind to a halt if the new Acelas fail to become operational and the old ones continue to deteriorate. 

• President Trump's outline of a budget concept for FY2026 does not mention Amtrak for cuts or expansion. Hopefully, this means that the administration will not make significant efforts to cut operating funds for the corporation. However, there remains the question whether the acquisition of new Long-Distance Cars will be delayed due to a lack of capital funds. More details are expected when the traditional budget is released.  

• The North Portal Bridge is now over 80 % complete. A serious question is whether the plan to open one track on the bridge in 2026 and the other in 2027 is feasible. This means the second track will be laid while there is traffic on the adjacent set of tracks. It would make far more sense to lay both sets of tracks on the bridge before running any trains. 

• The problems with Trump tariffs have been a boon to the more moderate parties in both Canada and Australia. The US Stock Market tanked when the tariffs were first announced, then recovered when it appeared they would be lessened, and is now tanking again as Trump adds more items to be subject to the tariffs. It then rebounded when Trump announced a pause on Tariffs from Europe. 

Steve Musen, Representative from Rhode Island to NARP's Council of Representatives