Average number of seats per train

[Paulus]

So I figured out how to find the average number of seats on each Amtrak route thanks to the passenger-miles per train-miles that the FRA provides and the occupancy figures that you can derive from Amtrak's monthly performance reports. This here is for FY13. Should be handy in advocating for lengthening particular trains (such as the Carolinian, which could probably turn a profit with another car).

Train	         Average seats per train
Acela           	312
	
Keystone        	335
Northeast Regional	442
—Richmond/Newport News	437
—Lynchburg      	506
—Norfolk        	510
—New Haven/Springfield	242
	
Capitol Corridor	314
Carolinian      	331
Cascades        	261
Downeaster      	290
Adirondack      	270
Empire Service   	388
Ethan Allen Express	387
Maple Leaf      	203
Heartland Flyer 	224
Hiawatha        	406
Hoosier State    	153
Illinois Zephyr 	266
Illini/Saluki   	332
Lincoln Service 	311
Blue Water      	361
Pere Marquette   	221
Wolverine       	396
Kansas City-St. Louis	178
Pacific Surfliner	474
Pennsylvanian   	303
Piedmont        	159
San Joaquins     	315
Vermonter       	298
	
Auto Train      	512
California Zephyr	294
Capitol Limited 	289
Cardinal        	225
City of New Orleans	262
Coast Starlight 	356
Crescent        	303
Empire Builder	        352
Lake Shore Limited	384
Palmetto        	319
Silver Meteor   	357
Silver Star     	307
Southwest Chief 	290
Sunset Limited  	264
Texas Eagle     	259

 

[acelafan]

Interesting, I don't recall the Missouri River Runner being that small/short but I was in BC that trip. Cool list.

 

[Paulus]

Interesting, I don't recall the Missouri River Runner being that small/short but I was in BC that trip. Cool list.

It could be a mistake or a weirdness in how The numbers come out, this is more ballparkish than 100% accurate (Acela doesn't have 312 seats for instance).

 

[chakk]

And of course the CZ will vary by 74 seats, depending on whether the train has two coaches or three coaches on a particular travel day. I have seen both configurations, depending on time of year.

 

[Anderson]

Remind me...the Pacific Surfliner usually runs with 5 cars, right?

As to the overnight trains, there's a very tight correlation between their performance in Boardman's slide show results and the number of seats, with only the Builder being a sort-of outlier.

 

[Paulus]

Remind me...the Pacific Surfliner usually runs with 5 cars, right?

As to the overnight trains, there's a very tight correlation between their performance in Boardman's slide show results and the number of seats, with only the Builder being a sort-of outlier.

Six cars and planned for seven as the new bilevels come in. Not sure how many are on the Amfleet set though.

 

[Paulus]

Just a quick and dirty chart of cost recovery (state corridors using ticket revenue only, NEC and LD using total revenue) and average number of seats. Later on I'll try breaking out NEC runners from non-NEC (and LD from others) since NEC fares are so high.