January 2026 Amtrak Financial Report

• The January Report was dated February 18, 2026, and posted on March 2, 2026. 

• The NEC has an operating surplus of $112.8 million, and the remaining National System has an operating deficit of $297.8 million. Combined, the deficit is $185.0 million.

• The NEC has capital expenditures of $1.0 billion and debt service of $71.3 million, and with Federal Grants and Capital Sources, a carryover balance for the year of $205.9 million plus any accumulated reserves from previous years.  

• The National System has capital expenditures of $504.2 million and debt service of $0.071 million. With Federal Grants and Capital Sources, it has a carryover balance of negative $76.5 million plus any accumulated reserves from previous years. 

• The combined accumulated reserves at October 1, 2025, totaled $242 million in cash and cash equivalents, $116 million in short-term investments, and $2.8 billion in available-for-sale securities. This brings total cash reserves as of October 1, 2024, to $3.124 billion. The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 1.38, indicating that Amtrak would be quite creditworthy for any new borrowings. 

• In October 2025, Amtrak’s burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $475.0 million.

  • In November, the burn rate was $394.7 million.

  • In December, the burn rate was $464.1 million.

  • In January, the burn rate was $ 471.795 million.

• Capital Spending for the year to date is a total of $1.6billion, broken down into categories:

  • Capital Renewal $268.3 million;

  • Mechanical $101.2 million;

  • Operations $13.7 million;

  • Digital Technology $67.9 million;

  • ADA $67.3 million;

  • Stations & Facilities $24.2 million;

  • Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $0.1 million;

  • Safety $0.0 million;

  • Environmental $3.4 million;

  • Procurement and other $0.5 million;

  • Acela 21 $50.4 million;

  • Bridges and Tunnel $439.4 million;

  • Mega Program $1.0 Million;

  • Strategy & Planning $128.8 million;

  • B&P Tunnel $102.9 million

  • Intercity Trainsets $26.1 million;

  • Major Stations $50.8 million;

  • Long-Distance Equipment Procurement $1.4 million;

  • Facilities $197.2 million;

  • Power $9.4 million;

  • Finance and other $0.2 million;

  • The total was $68.5 million, spent less than in FY2025 for the same period. 

• The GAAP loss for the year-to-date appears to be $575.6 million, which is $9.8 million better than FY2025.  The cash operating earnings for the year-to-date period were $2.6 million, down from FY2025. The cash operating loss for January 2026 alone was $35.2 million.

• For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $6.8 million below its forecast for the fiscal year to date. The GAAP figure is $135.9 million better than the Forecast.

• The number of product lines showing an operating surplus for the period was five. The four product lines that were measurable:

  • Northeast Regional $75.8 million

  • Acela $71.4 million

  • Auto Train $4.8 million

  • Ethan Allen $2.9 million (Vermont likely made a large payment of the subsidy owed)

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

• Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is 426,700  more than for the same period in FY2025. For the year, it stands at 11,841,400 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in January was 2,485,100.  

• Work resumed on the Hudson Tubes project. The Trump Administration has refused to release any of the funds obligated for the project, pending a so-called review to weed out "Woke" provisions. New York and New Jersey went to court and were successful in having the past-due amounts paid. Also, the money owed for January's work was paid. However, there are fears that the administration may stop payments in the future.

• Amtrak has made the mistake of abandoning the purchase of double-decker replacements for Superliners. Claiming that car builders cannot build these cars economically to meet ADA requirements, Amtrak intends to purchase single-level equipment for use across the nation. They could have petitioned this administration for waivers, but decided that, given the limited amount of equipment to be purchased, it was better to have all the equipment be the same for long-distance trains. Of course, a single-level car has far less capacity, so to carry the same number of passengers requires longer trains. The current single-level equipment also requires high-level platforms, which, where they exist, are not long enough to accommodate the 12 to 15-car length required to meet the existing passenger loads on the transcontinental trains. Specialized cars could also be a problem, as single-level diners may not allow sufficient meals to be served during normal mealtimes. Naturally, coach passengers will find that there is no room for them in the diners. Lounge cars could face the same problem, especially if the crews occupy the few existing tables. Of course, Amtrak could order twin diners and place two lounge cars on each train set. But that would add to the bottom line and increase the length of the train, so we cannot expect this. If management were to order cars in thousands rather than hundreds, you could maintain different kinds of equipment more efficiently.

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