Question about Pax Ticket Prices

[Everydaymatters]

Here in my part of Illinois we have Lincoln Service trains several times a day from Chicago to St. Louis.

My only experience with HSR was at the 2009 Gathering in Boston when we went from Boston to Providence. It was nice, but I like looking out the window and watching the world go by. In the Acela the scenery was dizzying as it flew past and experienced riders rarely looked out the window.

When the HSR is completed, will we still have the choice of using either the Lincoln Service trains or the high speed trains? I would think the ticket price would skyrocket with HSR.

 

[AlanB]

Betty,

My understanding of the plans for Lincoln service is that the current trains will just run faster than they currently do, namely going from a max of 79 MPH to 110 MPH (Acela went 150). There will not be two separate services running between St. Louis & Chicago, only a slightly faster Lincoln service. You should also see new train cars, bi-level cars, within a few years and they'll run more trains per day than they do right now.

As for ticket prices, I'd expect that you'll probably see a modest initial increase in price. But after that it's hard to say what might happen. In theory Amtrak would charge what the market bears, and the odds are that ridership will soar and an increase in ridership would permit still higher prices. But then Amtrak is also not in control of the prices on its own, its a state sponsored service so Illinois has a major say in what the price(s) will be.

 

[PRR 60]

Betty,

My understanding of the plans for Lincoln service is that the current trains will just run faster than they currently do, namely going from a max of 79 MPH to 110 MPH (Acela went 150). There will not be two separate services running between St. Louis & Chicago, only a slightly faster Lincoln service. You should also see new train cars, bi-level cars, within a few years and they'll run more trains per day than they do right now.

As for ticket prices, I'd expect that you'll probably see a modest initial increase in price. But after that it's hard to say what might happen. In theory Amtrak would charge what the market bears, and the odds are that ridership will soar and an increase in ridership would permit still higher prices. But then Amtrak is also not in control of the prices on its own, its a state sponsored service so Illinois has a major say in what the price(s) will be.

I would equate it to the Keystone service in Pennsylvania. When speed were increased to 110mph, it simply meant the same trains ran on a faster schedule. But, all the same stops are still being made (with a couple of limited-stop expresses at rush hour), and the fares remained more or less the same.

One of the nice aspects of the Keystone service is that it is unreserved between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. You can buy a ticket and ride any train you want without any fare bucket and rebooking nonsense. The only pricing variation is for Friday and Sunday trains, which are priced about 10% higher than the rest of the week.