Amtrak Fare Comparisons

[Ryan]

Inspired by this thread by Tracktwentynine:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/35761-a-look-at-fares-on-the-crescent/

I finally had some free time to devote to this. In the thread linked above, I included some of my early attempts using the Silver Meteor. I redid the charts to be a little bit nicer, here is NYP-MIA:

Nothing too remarkable, except the fat that the fares go flat once you get to JAX (there's a small $3 uptick in the base coach fare at the last 3 stops).

Headed the other way, MIA-NYP:

Again, nothing too unusual. Really cheap to Orlando, then a huge spike in the bedroom price at Winter Park and Beyond. Roomette fares increase a little more slowly, but start increasing a little more quickly between JAX (not labeled) and SAV. Also interesting is the fact that the most expensive destination from Miami is Alexandria. It's a little cheaper to go to Washington, and then the fare is the same regardless of where you leave the train on the corridor.

Contrast that with the Cardinal, which has some interesting pricing indeed.

Starting in Chicago:

Coach and Roomettes have a fairly normal distribution, but the Bedroom pricing has some oddities, likely driven by their scarity. First up, is an inability to book a Bedroom for any point short of Montgomery, WV (they show up as "SOLD OUT" regardless of the date. There's also an interesting peak from White Sulpher Springs to Charlottesville - I guess that Amtrak really wants to keep people in those sleepers though to closer to Washington. After CVS, Culpepper and Manassas are cheaper, then they spike back up for Alexandria and points beyond. Unlike Roomettes and Coach on the Cardinal (and all 3 accommodations on the Silver Meteor), prices for bedrooms on the Cardinal climb as you head up the NEC (prices on the Crescent also do this).

Finally, the Cardinal running the other way, NYP-CHI:

Much more normal. The big takeaway from this one is that you can save yourself $200 by getting your Bedroom ticket as far as Dyer and then getting a coach ticket for the run into Chicago (or if you're in a Roomette, the same trick will save you about $75).

Next up will be the Capitol Limited and the Silver Star (probably).

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Wow, it never occured to me that there would be such a bump between MSS and ALX on #50. And the bump between DYE and CHI on #51 is enough to get me out of my roomette! Thanks for taking the time to crunch the numbers!

 

[Train2104]

Notice that the Cardinal coach fare is relatively flat going westbound...

Working on Pacific Surfliner.

 

[Ryan]

It's extremely flat - $79 from ALX-CVS and then $88 for the rest of the way out! (If you're starting at NYP)

Edit to add - as other people work on this, could you add in the data for price per mile? I've got to figure out how to collect it all together, but I'd like to try to build a line graph where each train is a different line and the price/mile is plotted as a similar scatter chart. I think that it would be interesting to compare the relative costs between lines.

 

[Train2104]

Apologize for the delay, but here it is:

Pretty normal. Note the Metrolink/Coaster fares and that remember that there is a step-up-free policy for Metrolink monthly holders. Also note that the large spacing of stations north of SBA somewhat exaggerates the graph.

 

[sportbiker]

Thanks for doing this. I assume you used Metrolink weekday fares?

 

[Train2104]

Thanks for doing this. I assume you used Metrolink weekday fares?

What do you mean by weekday fares? I went to http://www.metrolinktrains.com/farecalc/index.php, entered stations, and used the number under "Regular Fare". I never knew Metrolink had weekend discounts, I see "Youth Weekend", but I presume it's only for youth.

 

[sportbiker]

Interesting. Metrolink used to have weekend fares that were about 1/2 of weekday fares. I used to be able to travel from LAX to Santa Ana or Irvine for about $5 on the weekend. I hardly ever did it because weekend service is so sparse and Amtrak has the more convenient schedule, but it does appear Metrolink's done away with weekend discounts for adults. I guess it's something to bring in a few more bucks.

 

[Ryan]

Update:

Since this just came up in conversation, and it's been exactly 1 year (plus 2 days), I revisited this to see how things had changed.

Here was 51 last year:

Here is this years version:

And here's a chart that shows the difference. No major change in coach, but the rooms are a lot more expensive. Anyone know at what point in the year the prices changed?

The other big change is that you can no longer book travel on 51 from NYP-ALX (still a legal booking on the Silvers and Crescent, though).

 

[Old MM]

really amazing work here Ryan :lol: