Amtrak 2013 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Amtrak Annual Report 2013 | 9
This performance is emblematic of the work we’ve done to make train travel easier, safer, more widely
available and appealing to our customers. Simply put, we are moving America where it wants to go by
delivering an excellent value proposition. With service to more than 500 stations in 46 of the 48 contiguous
states, Amtrak connects the nation’s urban centers with rural communities, serving more than 40 percent
of America’s rural population.
Amtrak’s 21,200 mile network gives us a nationwide scope. Over the past several years we have built and
deployed industry-leading systems for eTicketing and Wi-Fi that have made travel easier and more
passenger-friendly. Although Amtrak has been able to make only modest improvements in passenger
seating capacity by returning 81 stored cars to service with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) funding, these systems are providing us with better information on ridership patterns. This
information, combined with careful management and pricing of seat inventory, contributed to significant
gains in ticket revenue, which grew by more than 53 percent between 2006 and 2013.
We also devoted considerable effort to improving the financial performance of our Food and Beverage
(F&B) services. Amtrak launched more efficient warehouse inventory systems and, to ensure the proper
management focus, in FY 2013 we consolidated the responsibility for F&B operations and accountability
for financial performance into a single department. The current loss is heavily concentrated in the dining
car services of our long-distance trains. By identifying several strategies to strengthen F&B services,
Amtrak has improved cost recovery by nearly a third since 2006.
One of railroading’s most important initiatives is the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC), a
communications-based technology that allows railroads to control train movements and reduce accidents
due to human factors. Amtrak has been at the forefront in the installation of PTC. We’re proud that Amtrak
is generally on schedule to meet a 2015 federal deadline to install PTC components along our tracks and in
our locomotives. In fact, all trains operating between Boston and New Haven are already equipped with
and using PTC, as well as Acela Express trains operating on high-speed sections between New York and
Washington. Where PTC is not yet in service, we have enhanced the Automatic Train Control system on
many of the lines we control.
Amtrak also completed the reorganization of its Operations management structure in FY 2013, and the
new business lines—Long Distance Services, State Supported Services and Northeast Corridor Services —
are fully operational and implementing individual strategies to guide their work over the next few years.
In 2014, Amtrak refreshed its strategic plan to guide our actions from FY 2014-FY 2018. Following its
precepts, we strive to fulfill our mission of delivering intercity transportation with superior safety,
customer service and financial excellence.
Sincerely,
Joe Boardman Anthony Coscia
President and Chairman, Board of Directors
Chief Executive Officer