$20 Acela Fares 11/16-12/17

[TC_NYC]

Got the attached emailed to me. Looks like nearly every weekday Acela is at $20, with all regionals at $29 when checking BOS-NYP. Ridership must really be rough out there.

 

[Skyline]

Is this $20/$29 for the trip, or $20/$29 for the BC upgrade?

 

[DCAKen]

It's $20 for a BC seat on the Acela. You have to use this link to see the fares.

https://www.amtrak.com/promotions/a...sp_hp-hero_link_acela-20th-anniversary_frame1
I just made plans for a day trip to NYC. One of my friends wanted to visits Katz's deli for lunch...

 

[jamess]

I just searched 8 days between BOS-NYP and the only 20 fare I found was on Thanksgiving at 7pm. Useless.

Doesnt help the website makes it extremely difficult to compare days.

 

[TC_NYC]

I just searched 8 days between BOS-NYP and the only 20 fare I found was on Thanksgiving at 7pm. Useless.

Doesnt help the website makes it extremely difficult to compare days.

The fine print says no Friday or Sundays, found plenty of days with availability for BOS-NYP. 12/7, 12/8, 12/9, 12/14, 12/15... tons of availability out there!

 

[daybeers]

This is honestly wild! I know it's due to extremely low ridership because of COVID, but I think the sales they've been having are a good thing. Much like the sky-high housing/rental prices in NYC, it's nice to see the sky-high Acela fares brought back to sanity. $20 is an absolute bargain though; might be lower than some bus carriers, even during COVID. What are the NER fares and why would anyone choose a Regional over the Acela if it's so cheap? I guess that's the point

 

[jamess]

The fine print says no Friday or Sundays, found plenty of days with availability for BOS-NYP. 12/7, 12/8, 12/9, 12/14, 12/15... tons of availability out there!

Ah thats funny, the last day I looked was Dec 5!

If the Amtrak website had a calendar with low fares like every airline on the planet, this would be easier to use

 

[TC_NYC]

This is honestly wild! I know it's due to extremely low ridership because of COVID, but I think the sales they've been having are a good thing. Much like the sky-high housing/rental prices in NYC, it's nice to see the sky-high Acela fares brought back to sanity. $20 is an absolute bargain though; might be lower than some bus carriers, even during COVID. What are the NER fares and why would anyone choose a Regional over the Acela if it's so cheap? I guess that's the point

Yeah it's absolutely nuts and irresponsible on Amtrak's part if you ask me. The people who are traveling right now need to travel. Getting $20 instead of $50 or $60 leads to a huge loss of revenue, unless you are drawing in more people with the $20 fare (which I would say you're not).

The other thing that occurred to me is that it costs Amtrak a lot less money to run an Acela BOS-NYP than run a Regional. Since the train is faster they don't have to pay their crew as much and they only have 1 conductor and 1 AC on the Acela vs. 1 conductor and 2 ACs on the Regional (unsure if this is changed during Covid-19). It makes somewhat sense to have more passengers on the Acela if they can take it over the NE Regional.

 

[me_little_me]

It's $20 for a BC seat on the Acela. You have to use this link to see the fares.

https://www.amtrak.com/promotions/a...sp_hp-hero_link_acela-20th-anniversary_frame1
I just made plans for a day trip to NYC. One of my friends wanted to visits Katz's deli for lunch...

Darn! I couldn't find a $20 Acela from Charlotte, SC to NYC to have one of those sandwiches!

 

[Sidney]

I booked Philly to DC round trip for next week. I haven't ridden an Acela in a few years because of the cost. When I'm on a train I'm in no hurry and the high cost wasn't worth it...but at $40 r/t I grabbed it. It will cost more to ride a Keystone to get to Philly from Elt,but at that price point I couldn't pass it up.

I booked that fare at 1PM today. It's now close to 7 and I checked fares from Philly to Boston for some December dates and there aren't too many left. Hey at $20 I would imagine they are going very quickly.

 

[HammerJack]

Yeah it's absolutely nuts and irresponsible on Amtrak's part if you ask me. The people who are traveling right now need to travel. Getting $20 instead of $50 or $60 leads to a huge loss of revenue, unless you are drawing in more people with the $20 fare (which I would say you're not).

Yeah... but it's a promotion for Acela's 20th anniversary, and it's only available for 3 days. Sure, there may be a revenue loss for the $20 fares sold, but it's a celebration promotion and it may introduce new customers to rail travel.

 

[RebelRider]

The other thing that occurred to me is that it costs Amtrak a lot less money to run an Acela BOS-NYP than run a Regional. Since the train is faster they don't have to pay their crew as much and they only have 1 conductor and 1 AC on the Acela vs. 1 conductor and 2 ACs on the Regional (unsure if this is changed during Covid-19). It makes somewhat sense to have more passengers on the Acela if they can take it over the NE Regional.

1) All the Regionals are seven car sets now. That means six revenue cars and one cafe = 1 conductor and 1 AC. Same as Acela.
2) Speed of the train is (mostly) irrelevant. Acela is ~30 min faster WAS-NYP and ~40min faster NYP-BOS. Depending on the couplet, you aren't saving much money with the faster train.

While I don't have data to back up the following points, I believe they're accurate:
3) Acela uses more energy because it is heavier and faster than a Regional.
4) Acela needs more maintenance and upkeep. It has more complicated systems such as active-tilt, etc.
5) Acela puts more wear and tear onto the roadbed and track.

So no, Acela isn't cheaper to operate than a Regional.

 

[TC_NYC]

1) All the Regionals are seven car sets now. That means six revenue cars and one cafe = 1 conductor and 1 AC. Same as Acela.
2) Speed of the train is (mostly) irrelevant. Acela is ~30 min faster WAS-NYP and ~40min faster NYP-BOS. Depending on the couplet, you aren't saving much money with the faster train.

While I don't have data to back up the following points, I believe they're accurate:
3) Acela uses more energy because it is heavier and faster than a Regional.
4) Acela needs more maintenance and upkeep. It has more complicated systems such as active-tilt, etc.
5) Acela puts more wear and tear onto the roadbed and track.

So no, Acela isn't cheaper to operate than a Regional.

I didn't know they've been running the regionals with only 1 AC (pre-covid it was 2 ACs) that's a big swing in the economics of the train. Regionals make more station stops, which do take up more time and energy. If I was a cost accountant at amtrak I would be digging into the cost data of transporting a passenger BOS-NYP on the Acela or on the Regional.

 

[RebelRider]

I didn't know they've been running the regionals with only 1 AC (pre-covid it was 2 ACs) that's a big swing in the economics of the train. Regionals make more station stops, which do take up more time and energy. If I was a cost accountant at amtrak I would be digging into the cost data of transporting a passenger BOS-NYP on the Acela or on the Regional.

Eliminating those jobs is something the Company had already started in January, pre-COVD. At the time, all the second AC positions south of WAS were abolished and the Company started tagging extra cars beyond six as deadheads to NFK, NPN and RNK. When COVID hit, the Regional trains that were left running quickly standardized on a seven car set and the remaining second AC jobs were abolished. We could have run smaller trainsets than that for a while, but there probably wasn't enough parking for that much equipment no longer in trains.

I'm still quite sure the Acela is more expensive to run on an Available Seat Mile basis than the Regionals.