September 2023 Amtrak Financial Report
These are the items that I noticed in the report that were interesting to me:
The September Report was dated October 31, 2023, and posted November 3 , 2023. This is early for Amtrak’s end-of-the-fiscal year reporting.
.The NEC generated a cash operating surplus of $158.1 million (as determined by their accounting system), and the remainder of the system had an operating cash loss of $915.3 million. The entire system had a cash operating deficit of $757.244 million for the year.
The NEC made debt service payments totaling $189.5 million for the entire year and capital expenditures of $1.7 billion. Counting all capital sources, the NEC Account has a positive balance of $578.2 million. It also has the cash reserves remaining from previous years.
For the rest of the National System, $6.2 million was needed for Debt service, and $1.3 billion was spent on Capital Expenditures. The National Network Account Balance now has a positive balance of $91.2 million. It also has the accumulated surplus from previous years.
The amount of appropriated money for the combined NEC and National Network received for the year was $3.6 billion. Amtrak has also obtained from other capital sources $957.5 million for the entire system.
The combined accumulated reserves at the beginning of the 2023 fiscal year totaled $299.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, $123.9 million in short-term investments, and $2.9 billion in available-for-sale securities. This brings total cash reserves as of October 1, 2022, to $3.3 billion. The current ratio (Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities) was 1.894, making Amtrak quite credit-worthy for any fresh borrowings even though it is slightly down from last year.
IAmtrak’s burn rate (Operating Revenues-Minus Operating Expense-Minus Debt Service-Capital Expenditures) was $210.269 million for October 2022.
November the burn rate was $318.838 million
December, the burn rate was $256.4 million
January, the burn rate was $271.7 million
February, the burn rate was $295.2 million
March, the burn rate was $324.2 million
April, the burn rate was $274.0 million
May, the burn rate was $345.2 million
June, the burn rate was $412.8 million
July, the burn rate was $388.8 million
August, the burn rate was $355.0 million
September, the burn rate was $464.0 million.
The operating expense for September was much higher than in June, July, or August by almost $50 million. This is odd because September has one less day than August or July. Revenues were slightly down from August, which is expected.
Capital Spending for the year:
Infrastructure Services $1,136.8 million
Mechanical $358.2 million
Operations $14.0 million
Digital Technology $285.4 million
Commercial and Marketing $3.5 million
ADA $129.4 million
Real Estate Stations & Facilities $77.2 million
Amtrak Police & Emergency Management $8.8 million
Safety $6.9 million
Environmental $6.2 million
Procurement $7.3 million
Acela 21 $169.5 million
Gateway $264.0 million
Planning & Strategy $102.3 million
B&P Tunnel $89.6 million
intercity Trainsets: $303.3 million
The total was $2.6 billion,, which is $738.1 million more than last year's period.
The GAAP Loss for the year was $1.7 billion which is $93.5 million better than FY2022. The cash operating earnings for the year was $129.6 million, better than in FY2022.
For cash operating earnings, the corporation fell $12.5 million behind its forecast for the entire year. The GAAP figure is $5.9 million, better than the forecast.
The number of product lines showing a measurable operating surplus for the period was five. The three with a surplus over $1 million were:
Northeast Regional $108.0 million
Acela $101.8 million
Auto Train $15.6 million
The Hoosier State (which has not run for several years) is now shown as losing $1.1 million. Last month it showed a gain of $0.9 million for the first eleven months. Also, the Northeast Regional Trains lost money in September while the Acela gained.
The four Virginia product lines generated a total loss of $25.3 million.
Amtrak is now showing costs based on Frequency Variable Costs, Route Variable Costs, and System Fixed Costs. Most trains covered their Frequency Variable Costs. The exception was all of the long-distance trains, not including the Auto train, Silver Meteor, Lake Shore Ltd., Crescent, and Palmetto. The Gulf Coast Ltd., which has not started running, is shown as not meeting its variable costs.
The capacity of most long-distance trains remains constrained. The Capitol Ltd. is still running with only one coach, one sleeper, a cross-country diner, and occasionally a second sleeper, and consequently is showing a significant loss of passengers compared to the previous year to date.
Ridership for the Fiscal Year is more than 5,604,000 from FY2022. For the year, it stands at 28,536.600 (Amtrak reports ridership to the nearest 100). The total number of riders in September was 2,711,200. The long-distance trains shows a gain of riders across most product lines, except the Silver Star, Coast Starlight, and Capitol Ltd. The Star has lost riders to the Silver Meteor now that it has been restored. The starvation level of its consist can explain the Capitol. The Coast Starlight was annulled because of wildfires. The Silver Meteor was the biggest winner at +258.5% gain in the new fiscal year. The City of New Orleans was second at a 50.3% gain. The lines that showed the smallest ridership gains after the Star, Starlight, and the Capitol Ltd, was the Auto Train at +1.6% and the Cardinal at +3.9%. The Acela gained 38.0%.
The Senate passed a minibus with decent amounts for rail and transit. The House had a very bad THUD Bill, which was eventually pulled. A continuiing resolution was passed that created a two-tier system. The THUD was extended to January 7, 2024, at the FY2023 rate. The House has passed seven of the budget bills, and the Senate three, no conferencing has been done on the one bill passed mutually.
The President made a massive reward of over $10 billion for various Northeast Corridor projects. Up to $4 million is reserved for a study of the route between New Haven and Providence by Amtrak to determine what additional investments are needed.
Steve Musen is a representative from Rhode Island to NARP’s Council of Representatives.