Not all the passengers are going the full length; they were anticipating total fares around $145 million. Operating revenue in 2012 was $246.8 million with a net loss of 13.3 million.
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With one-way tickets estimated in the $100 range, that would mean the Coral Gables-based company is expecting to carry nearly 1.5 million passengers between Central and South Florida within three years of its inaugural trip in 2015.
That's just the reporter making the exact same mistake.Point taken, but they also seem to have a lower passenger count than I had thought:With one-way tickets estimated in the $100 range, that would mean the Coral Gables-based company is expecting to carry nearly 1.5 million passengers between Central and South Florida within three years of its inaugural trip in 2015.
Moreover, I'm looking at Tampa-Orlando-Miami, not just Orlando-Miami...and it seems, at least from what I read in the article, that I got the ratio roughly right, just not what I needed to multiply the ratio by. $145m/1.5m is about $96/passenger.
Tri-Rail is $6.90 plus $2 Metrorail to get to downtown Miami...so $8.90 total. Hopefully AAF has enough amenities in addition to a one seat ~60 minute ride from West Palm Beach to downtown Miami (according to Google Maps, Tri-Rail+Metrorail is 140 minutes total and driving is 70 minutes + whatever delays from rush hour traffic) to attract the business commuter. Though, I imagine WiFi (Tri-Rail experimented with this in one of their cars, but I'm guessing it ended up being too expensive since it was never fully implemented), meal service, and arriving right at downtown without having to pay for parking will be pretty darn appealing.
It is my understanding AAF will buy all new equipment - meaning it will be manufactured to the model year standards it is produced in. And if it is made in 2015, then any locomotives manufactured that year will have to meet Tier 4 standards. I am aware of only one other order for passenger locomotives that meet Tier 4, I believe that was for the Southern California commuter rail operation. Here is the link, and F125 Spirit series can run at 125mph.Tier 3 allows them to potentially buy equipment that needs much less modification to meet FRA requirements than meeting the old Tier 1 standard.
It sounds like you're talking about the FRA crashworthiness standards, and Brian_tampa was talking about EPA diesel emission standards. It's confusing, because they both use "Tier 1", "Tier 2", etc.Tier 3 allows them to potentially buy equipment that needs much less modification to meet FRA requirements than meeting the old Tier 1 standard.
Great Article, Brian, Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to riding the train in a couple of years.A nice informational article about AAF and FECI. One interesting new bit of info from AAF themselves: as I and many have suspected, the interest in the MIA to Orlando route shown by construction/operator teams bidding on the failed HSR project between Tampa and Orlando was what got FECI to think about creating a passenger service for themselves.
http://www.floridatrend.com/article/16021/ticket-to-ride-on-fecis-all-aboard-florida?page=1
Something like Baltimore?If the AAF/FECI model is successful, ,it may be tried in other areas with similar demographics. This is not a freight railroad operating passenger trains, rather, a development company that has trackage rights developing needed transportation system and the areas that access the transportation system. There is another post about "Could this save Amtrak? regarding development around Amtrak Stations. FECI is really thinking outside the box with AAF. Is Amtrak capable of doing that?
FECI is spending their own money and developing their own real estate.FECI is really thinking outside the box with AAF. Is Amtrak capable of doing that?
Ummmm... like they are doing in Baltimore? (This is a link)Could they do more with what they do own?
Or maybe they still feel like James Hill, 'The Empire Builder,' did, who compared passenger trains to the male teat.I suspect there are places that, if they wanted to, the Class Is could make a run of some corridor services and make them work...
Since the Pennsylvania Railroad could not turn a profit on the Northeast Corridor I would regard the chance of anybody else doing so as essentially nil. I think they were close to break even on variable costs, but at the time of the advent of Amtrak were in need of major investment in both equipment and fixed facilities to keep going.I agree that FECI and Amtrak are 2 different entities, but Amtrak owns facilities on the NEC and Chicago Union Station. Could they do more with what they do own? Are there other FECI models that might develop some rail transportation systems such as CAHSR, for example.
Well, and in the last 40-50 years there have been a lot of shifts. I'm not sure what the situation was with the NEC for the Pennsy in the 1920s (or 1940s/early 50s), but by the time you got to the late 60s you had a hard feedback loop going that sent ridership off a cliff due to bad track, rough rides, and an inability to maintain pricing points. High labor costs and bad maintenance practices didn't help, either, and neither did the proliferation of expressways.Since the Pennsylvania Railroad could not turn a profit on the Northeast Corridor I would regard the chance of anybody else doing so as essentially nil. I think they were close to break even on variable costs, but at the time of the advent of Amtrak were in need of major investment in both equipment and fixed facilities to keep going.I agree that FECI and Amtrak are 2 different entities, but Amtrak owns facilities on the NEC and Chicago Union Station. Could they do more with what they do own? Are there other FECI models that might develop some rail transportation systems such as CAHSR, for example.
On the other hand, that being said, there were a lot of things they could have done better. I remember the first time I saw it in 1970 with their many manned towers being just one example, my though was, "Suddenly it is 1920."
This is the same Pennsylvania Railroad that couldn't even make it as a freight line, right?Since the Pennsylvania Railroad could not turn a profit on the Northeast Corridor I would regard the chance of anybody else doing so as essentially nil. I think they were close to break even on variable costs, but at the time of the advent of Amtrak were in need of major investment in both equipment and fixed facilities to keep going.I agree that FECI and Amtrak are 2 different entities, but Amtrak owns facilities on the NEC and Chicago Union Station. Could they do more with what they do own? Are there other FECI models that might develop some rail transportation systems such as CAHSR, for example.
This is the first I've heard this, though I'm not sure if it is buried in this thread somewhere.... according to Rusty Roberts, vice president of corporate development [for FECI]... trains will be less than 1,000 feet long, have two locomotives and seven passenger cars...
Yes it was buried alright! It was in the draft EA report on page 19 from last November (and possibly in other documents as well). See the footnote from page 19 below:From http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/130822/story2.shtml]miamitodaynews.com[/url]:This is the first I've heard this, though I'm not sure if it is buried in this thread somewhere.... according to Rusty Roberts, vice president of corporate development [for FECI]... trains will be less than 1,000 feet long, have two locomotives and seven passenger cars...
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