December 2025 Amtrak Financial Report
The December Report was dated January 30, 2026, and posted on that date. This has been the schedule for most monthly reports.
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) has an operating surplus of $139.6 million, and the remaining National System has an operating deficit of $214.1 million. Combined, the deficit is $74.6 million.
The NEC has capital expenditures of $814.0 million and debt service of $71.2 million, and with Federal Grants and Capital Sources, a carryover balance for the year of $1.2 billion, plus any accumulated reserves from previous years.
The National System has capital expenditures of $379.0 billion and $0.1 million in debt service. With Federal Grants and Capital Sources, it has a carryover balance of $1,062,710 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, 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 $464.2 million.
The total Capital Spending total for the year to date is $1.2 billion breaks down as:
Capital Renewal: $214.0 million
Mechanical: $81.0 million
Operations: $9.9 million
Digital Technology: $50.4 million
ADA: $52.4 million
Stations & Facilities: $18.5 million
Amtrak Police & Emergency Management: $0.1 million;
Safety $0.0 million
Environmental: $2.8 million
Procurement and other: $0.2 million
Acela 21: $36.8 million
Bridges and Tunnel: $338.6 million
Mega Program $0.7 Million
Strategy & Planning $94.9 million
B&P Tunnel: $77.0 million
Intercity Trainsets: $13.3 million
Major Stations: $40.1 million
Long-Distance Equipment Procurement: $1.0 million
Facilities: $154.1 million
Power: $6.5 million
Finance and other: $0.7 million.
The total was $65.6 million more than FY2025 for the same period.
The GAAP loss for the year-to-date period appears to be $370.3 million, which is $15.5 million worse than FY2025. The cash operating earnings for the year-to-date period were $6.5 million, down from FY2025. The cash operating loss for December 2025 alone was $50.5 million.
For cash operating earnings, the corporation is $0.8 million below its forecast for the fiscal year to date. The GAAP figure is $98.0 million better than the forecast.
The number of product lines showing an operating surplus for the period was five. The three product lines that were measurable:
Northeast Regional: $83.6 million
Acela: $78.8 million
Auto Train: $3.2 million
The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $10.5 million.
Ridership for the Fiscal Year so far is more than 420,900 from FY2025. For the year, it stands at 9,356.300 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in December was 3,129.200.
Work on the Hudson Tubes project ceased on February 6, 2026. The Trump Administration had refused to release any of the funds obligated for the project, pending a so-called review to weed out "woke" provisions. This review was started last Spring and is taking longer than the release of the Epstein Files. The Project's managers have been using a line of credit to continue work in the meantime, but have exhausted it along with any funds they had received from the Port Authority. The States of New York and New Jersey then filed suit in the United States District Court. The Judge found immediate danger to the plaintiffs and issued a restraining order on the Federal Government. The Trump Administration appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to stay the order. The 2nd Circuit declined to issue a stay. Since then, the Trump Administration has released the $205 million it was holding, and work is scheduled to resume the week of February 22, 2026.
Both the House and Senate have passed a conference version of the THUD, and President Trump signed the legislation. The provisions are basically the same as FY2025 for Amtrak, but the Federal/State Partnership grants and CRISI (Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Initiative) have been scaled back again.
There are no funds available to begin purchasing Superliner Replacements under the current Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (also known as the Surface Transportation Act). It is crucial that a robust rail section be included in the renewal of the Surface Transportation Act.
Eight of the new Acelas are now in service, but problems exist. Along with shortages of all types of equipment, limitations on the number of additional passengers Amtrak can carry are impacting the bottom line. It does not help that many trains across the country were cancelled due to weather, equipment breakdowns, and other problems. Out West, where the equipment is supposed to be quickly turned around, a late-arriving train often prevents a next-day departure with the same equipment. The Floridian is particularly prone to this problem.
One of the new Aero Train Sets was on display in Washington, DC, before being shipped to the Pacific Northwest for use on the Cascade Line. Hopefully, it allows the release of some of the equipment that was temporarily sent out there.
Steve Musen, Representative from Rhode Island to NARP's Council of Representatives