March 2026 Amtrak Financial Report

• The March Report was dated and posted on April 30, 2026.  

• The Northeast Corridor (NEC) has an operating surplus of $169.4 million, and the remaining National System has an operating deficit of $429.2 million. Combined, the deficit is $259.8 million.

• The NEC has capital expenditures of $1.6 billion and debt service of $92.7 million, and with federal grants and Capital Sources, a carryover balance for the year of $103.141 million plus any accumulated reserves from previous years.  

• The National System has capital expenditures of $769.5 million and $0.1 million in debt service. With federal grants and capital sources, it has a carryover balance of negative $320.6 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 $3.1 billion. The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 1.38, which would make Amtrak quite creditworthy for any fresh borrowings. 

• In October 2025, Amtrak’s burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $475.0 million. In March, the burn rate was $423,807 million.

• 7Capital Spending for the year to date totals$2.350 billion, and breaks down as:

  • Capital Renewal $396.3 million;

  • Mechanical $161.8 million;

  • Operations $21.5 million;

  • Digital Technology $110.3 million;

  • ADA $96.1 million;

  • Stations & Facilities $31.7 million;

  • Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $0.1 million;

  • Safety $0.1 million;

  • Environmental $4.1 million;

  • Procurement and other $0.8 million;

  • Acela 21 $66.7 million;

  • Bridges and Tunnel (Gateway) $681.2 million;

  • Mega Program (Gateway) $7.2 Million;

  • Strategy & Planning $192.3 million;

  • B&P Tunnel $158.8 million;

  • Intercity Trainsets $38.2 million;

  • Major Stations $74.0 million;

  • Long-Distance Equipment Procurement $2.3 million;

  • Facilities $278.6 million;

  • Power $12.3 million;

  • Finance and other $15.2 million;

  • Total was $300.4 million, less than FY2025 for the same period. 

• The GAAP loss for the year to date appears to be $856.6 million, which is $88.6 million better than FY2025. The cash operating earnings for the year to date were $100.3 million, better than in FY2025. The cash operating surplus in March 2026 was $23.7 million. That doesn't happen very often.

• For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $40.0 million ahead of its forecast for the fiscal year to date. The GAAP figure is $312.0 million better than the Forecast.

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

  • Northeast Regional $105.2 million 

  • Acela $100.6 million

  • Auto Train $9.7 million

  • Ethan Allen $3.0 million 

  • Chicago-St. Louis $1.3 million

• The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $16.2 million.

• Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is more than 812,700 from FY2025. With gasoline prices rising and Airlines generating lots of bad news, Amtrak was able to capitalize on this, especially on the Northeast Corridor. For the year, ridership stands at 17,481,900 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in February was 3,304.000.  

• The budget submitted by the President reduced Amtrak's direct appropriations from $2.2 billion to $2.1 billion. The real damage is the elimination of the Federal/State Partnership for Intercity Rail Grants. These grants have provided the muscle for the large construction projects that individually take years to complete. These grants are especially important if Amtrak is to make a large passenger car order to replace the Western Long-Distance Fleet. 

• The Gateway Corporation has awarded a sub-contract for the construction of the portions of the tunnel under the Hudson River. Construction is being done on the tunnels in New Jersey and Manhattan. There was a fear that the Trump Administration would again hold back pre-appropriated funds; therefore, a delay would be prudent for any new subcontracts. There is one other subcontract that was scheduled to be awarded this year. That contract would have laid the track and catenary from Secaucus to Weehawken. 

• It appears that a few horizons have been returned to service. While only a handful, they can provide additional capacity this summer. With gas prices expected to continue to rise, demand will only increase. A lot of revenue will still be lost because there are no additional space available.