Amtrak Attempting to Revitalize Train Services in the United States
- Ethan Swanker
- Oct 24, 2023
- 3 min read
Amtrak is the United State’s most popular train service for commuter rail. Serving nearly 32 million rides last year, it’s safe to say that Amtrak’s rail system is important to million’s of people’s commutes and travel. Despite 32 million rides being significant, the population of the United States is 332 million; which means that the average person in the USA rides Amtrak 0.096 times per year, which isn’t significant at all in the grand scheme of US travel. Especially when considering that US airlines serviced 858 million passengers in 2022 alone, it brings the question: why are Americans more likely to fly 2-3 times per year than to ever get on an Amtrak train?
I recently started my co-op in Real Estate Asset Management at Amtrak, and I recognize the flaws in the nationwide train service. It’s outdated, can be relatively expensive, and they don’t make much sense for long-distances. Yet, for us on the East Coast, there isn’t a better way to get from Washington DC, to Baltimore, to Philadelphia, to New York City, to Boston. Accounting for only the people that live in zip-codes that fall into those five cities, that is over 12 million people, and MUCH more when you consider a commuting radius outside of those cities.
What is the root of many of Amtrak’s problems? Outdated technology, specifically in the train tracks. A significant majority of Amtrak trains are capable of being deemed “high-speed rail” yet are neutered by the over a century old tracks they are forced to ride on currently. For example, the Acela, Amtrak’s Business-class line, is capable of streamlining at 160mph from stop to stop. Yet due to outdated tracks, the train rarely reaches those speeds from Washington DC all the way up to Boston. Not reaching its potential is almost representative of Amtrak as a whole. For a country with as much land and resources as the United States, there is no reason why our primarily government-funded train service isn’t state-of-the-art.
Let’s finally get into the Real Estate side of things; Amtrak is investing billions into renovating their stations, tracks, train fleets, and other assets. For example, our very own 30th Street Station in Philadelphia will be receiving a $400 million renovation with plans for more seating areas, restaurants and retail, and rebuilt infrastructure on both the interior and exterior of the station. Amtrak is a large beneficiary of President Biden’s Infrastructure that invested $1 Trillion towards improving transit, the efficiency of our electrical grid, as well as the availability of broadband internet. With this newfound cash, and Amtrak’s desire to further create demand for their services through improved customer experience. If Amtrak can become known as “undeniably the best way to get from Point A to Point B” all factors (price, cleanliness, efficiency, etc.) included, it will see a surge of new users, perhaps more than anticipated. Baltimore and New York City are among other cities to receive significant station renovations.
Amtrak’s ambition is admirable. In fact, they are not only trying to revamp what currently exists, but also invest $75 billion dollars (in which they are seeking) into expanding the rail network in the United States. Will the combination of these renovations and expansion be enough to make Amtrak more of a no-brainer form of transit, especially on the East Coast?
After reading Amtrak’s Service & Asset Line 5-Year Plan for 2022-2027, I began to understand that Amtrak is one of the few companies that is still being actively affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. As remote and hybrid jobs continue to grow in popularity, and business travel in general becomes less popular, Amtrak is seeing a continuous decrease in riders commuting to and from work. Despite this, leisure travel is expected to rise over the next few years.
Transit is one of the most important factors to consumers when considering housing. With Amtrak not only improving their current services, yet also building new stations, we can expect outsized real estate development in the station’s neighboring area. There will be more housing for frequent commuters, new food and options, and other new developments in the areas that surround Amtrak stations. This is a primary reason why Amtrak’s plan is so important to people that aren’t currently frequent Amtrak riders, because the neighborhoods they live in could be soon to be redeveloped. Both supply and demand are bound to increase in areas of renovation and development.
Therefore, Amtrak’s ambitious future plans represent a piece of what the government is trying to achieve with its Infrastructure Bill; redevelopment and expansion of “city amenities” both within and outside of cities. Expanding the “greater areas” the United States biggest cities could be the key to a far more prosperous city lifestyle, but that’s a topic for another time.
Sources:
Comments