October 2021 Amtrak Financial Report

• The report was dated November 30, 2021, but not posted on their web page until December 2, 2021.  

• The NEC generated a monthly cash operating surplus of $7.1 million (as determined by their accounting system) and the remainder of the system had a fully allocated cash loss of $46.3 million. Combined the entire system had for the period cash operating deficit of $39.3 million.

• In October, the NEC made debt service payments totaling $168.2 million and capital expenditures of $105.2 million. Counting all capital sources, the NEC Account has a negative balance of $248.3 million as well as the cash reserves from previous years. Please note that the debt service payments are the exact amount that was shown for the full 2021 fiscal year. Amtrak may have been careless again in showing the correct figures.

• For the rest of the National System, $49.4 million was needed for debt service and $84.0 million was spent on capital expenditures. The National Network account balance is now a negative $163.4 million as well as the accumulated surplus from previous years.  As noted above the debt service figure was the exact same amount that was shown for the entire 2021 fiscal year. 

• The amount of appropriated money for the combined NEC and National Network received was $11.6 million. Amtrak has also received from other capital sources $22.9 million for the entire system. 

• The combined accumulated reserves at the beginning of the 2021 fiscal year totaled $409.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, $170.0 million in short-term investments, and $2.4 billion in available-for-sale securities. This brings total cash reserves as of October 1, 2020, to $2.9 billion. The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 2.169 which would make Amtrak quite creditworthy for any fresh borrowings.

• In October 2021 Amtrak's burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $216.4 million. However, this includes the $217.6 million for debt service. The actual amount may be quite a bit less. 

• Capital Spending for the month was: Engineering $43.1 million, Mechanical $19.4 million, Operations $0.8 million, Information Technology $7.4 million, Commercial and Marketing $0.0 million, ADA & Stations $6.5 million, Real Estate Stations & Facilities $5.9 million, Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $0.6 million, Safety $0.8 million, Environmental $0.8 million, Procurement was a negative $0.1 million, Acela 21 $9.8 million ($9.8 million in October), Gateway $0.7 million, Planning & Strategy $3.3 million ($3.3 million increase in October), B&P Tunnel $1.9 million, and Intercity Trainsets $88.2 million (an increase of $88.2 million in October). 

• The GAAP Loss for the month appears to be $115.3 million which is $59.8 million better than the same period in FY2021.  The cash operating earnings for the month was $38.2 million better than in FY2021.

• Amtrak is running $22.3 million ahead of its plan for FY2022 for cash operating losses. The GAAP figure is $19.2 million ahead of plan. 

• The number of product lines showing a measurable operating surplus for the period grew to eighteen and the three with a surplus of over $1 million were:

  • Northeast Regional $6.9 million

  • Acela $2.4 million

  • Auto Train $1.0 million

  • The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $0.8 million. 

• Ridership for the month rose more than 1,160,200 from the comparable period in FY2021. For the year to date, it stands at 1,845.600 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). In fact, the total number of riders in all of October was 1,845,600. The situation with the long-distance trains shows a gain of riders across the product lines. The biggest losers in FY2021 were the ones with the highest percentage gains. The Crescent was the greatest winner at a 201.6% gain for the new fiscal year to date. The Capitol Ltd. was second at a gain of 180.4%. The lines that showed the smallest ridership gains were the Auto Train with a positive percent of 55.6%, The Cardinal at +54.7%, and The Sunset at 35.1%. It is no coincidence that all three ran their normal frequencies for all of FY2021. The Acela gained  366.7%.

• The bipartisan infrastructure bill was passed and the direct appropriations are guaranteed. However, the authorizations to be filled by the appropriations bills have not been passed. A CR entered October 5, 2021, only keeps the various programs at FY2021 levels through February 18, 2022.

• The Corp of Engineers granted a permit for the new Hudson Tunnels to complete the regulatory process. However, work can only begin when the money is actually appropriated and distributed by the various Federal Agencies. There was a newspaper report that it will take until August of 2023 before the money is transferred and actual construction can commence. Even then it will take 8 plus years to construct the tunnel and rehab the existing one. Amtrak has identified the property that is purchased for the ventilation shaft (for the eventual Gateway Tunnels) as 260 12th Avenue, in New York City.

• Amtrak has eased its vaccination protocol so the possible reduction in train frequencies has been averted for now.

Steve Musen