A note from the New York Times.
All Aboard! Riding on Amtrak‘s Acela Express trains just got cheaper. The railroad is offering 25% off prices for tickets purchased 14 days in advance, meaning a one-way ticket between Washington, D.C., and New York City can cost as little as $99, and between New York and Boston, just $79. The sale lasts through June 26, with limited availability.
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Filed under: Amtrak
Kind of shoots down the theory of “build it and they will ride”.
Acela has that many have been clamoring for … Amtrak owns the tracks, it’s electrified, it’s fast … faster than normal anyway …, the corridor is dense … yet Amtrak is having to cut fares to attract riders.
I want to be a little cautious about this because I might be mistaken, but I understand that many “high end” business riders previously using Acela “premium” service are now using regular corridor trains instead.
This does show that Aceoa has the same vulnerability to economic conditions as experienced by airlines.
Airlines adjust fares by the hour. What I mean is that there may be passengers paying many different fares on the same flight. No harm in Amtrak doing the same.
Allan – even without the business ridership that was its backbone customer base, it’s still taking 50% of the non-car traffic along its corridor. Please to not troll.
Sounds like Allan might be an airline CMO desperately trying to save his job.