Latest issue of Trains is in! There's an article about passenger trains and delays... and I remember earlier there was a thread about Amtrak's expenses for missed connections. Well, Trains tracked Amtrak delays for one week, May 17-23, 2004, and discovered 333 hours worth of half-hour or more delays. During that time, Amtrak paid $28,306.35 for taxis, hotels, meals and such for passengers - the number does NOT include crew overtime or "other internal costs."
Trains 09/04, p.20-21
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Does that figure include bustitutions? I'll assume it does unless I hear otherwise. If that week was typical, that works out to almost $1.5 million a year.
Posted by M190 (Member # 3009) on :
Yikes.
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
That figure doesn't surprise me too much. If you take one train, the California Zephyr which I was on last year, which arrived in Chicago at about 10pm, 6 hours late, pretty mich everybody missing their connections. I'd estimate that approximately 80-90 people on that train missed their onward connections, judging by the line of people waiting to be reassigned in the diner. Of that number, around 60 stayed in the "Amhotel". Guessing at $50 per room per night (lower than published rates; Amtrak gets a deal), maybe 45 rooms. Plus $12 cash for taxi and food. Total around $2800. Add the that a free dinner on board the train - 300 people, maybe $3 per head (it was tinned stew plus soft drink plus disposable cutlery) - another $900. A fair few others took Greyhound to their destinations, cost unknown but let's say a few hundred dollars.
Total $4000 for one late train. Three or four a week like that and you can see how $28k builds up.