Title: How Amtrak Makes Money
Headings: How Amtrak Makes Money
How Amtrak Makes Money
Ticket Sales and Leveraging Infrastructure Assets
Key Takeaways
Amtrak's History
The Business Model
Ticket sales
State and Federal Subsidies
$8.1 billion
Leveraging Infrastructural Assets
Future Plans
New Acela Express Trains
150 mph
Siemens Contract
Improving Safety
Extending the Network
Key Challenges
Keeping Prices Down
NEC Repair Backlog
Federal Funding Cuts
Article Sources

Content: Recently the rail provider added stations in Virginia and North Carolina. 20 ﻿ 21 ﻿ Going forward, Amtrak will also extend its NEC further into Maine and plans to lengthen its Southwest Chief long-distance line to Colorado. 22 ﻿ 9 ﻿
Key Challenges
Keeping Prices Down
To improve its competitive edge over busses, air travel and private cars, Amtrak must keep its prices down. This won’t be easy, even with government subsidies. As it stands, Amtrak tickets are generally cheaper than flights, but still cost considerably more than busses. For instance, it costs at least $55 to take an Amtrak from Boston to New York, but a bus starts at $14. 23 ﻿ 24 ﻿
Amtrak's high prices are attributable to a confluence of factors that make the rail business extremely costly in the United States. Amtrak’s trains are old and thus depreciate quickly, are costly to maintain, and require significant investment to replace. Volatile oil prices have increased Amtrak’s expenditure on fuel in recent years, and poor track coverage and maintenance decrease Amtrak’s reliability, making it harder for the company to justify higher prices. Amtrak must keep its ticket prices low to compete with busses, air travel and private cars.