Loading summary
Transcript23 lines
- [00:00]
Indiana University Announcer
Indiana University is proving how higher education can create solutions with industry. We're working side by side with industry partners to fuel economic growth that powers a future ready workforce. Explore IU's impact at iu.edu impact.
- [00:19]
Roger Harris
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news.
- [00:30]
Matt Miller
We welcome our Bloomberg television and radio audiences worldwide. I'm Matt Miller alongside Dani Burger. Joining us now is Amtrak President Roger Harris, as the company posts record 2025. Talk to us first off about the year that was and are more people. Roger, choosing the train because of the reliability problem of planes.
- [00:55]
Roger Harris
I'm good to be here today. Thank you. Yeah. So let's talk about 2025. This is a great time to be here at Amtrak. I'm certainly very excited about it. We just had our record year in terms of ridership. We carry 34 and a half million customers. And I think we did that by running a good railroad, focusing on things like on time, performance, cleanliness, customer service. That in turn generates really strong revenue, record ticket revenue of $2.7 billion. That allows us to invest in new product like the new trains, the new Acela trains that we launched in August of this year. Also, we have a new train coming out next year, the Aero trains that will be seen first in the Pacific Northwest and then later in the Northeast Corridor. We're also investing in new routes like the new Mardi Gras service between New Orleans and Mobile. Last year we launched the Borealis service between the Twin Cities and Chicago. And we're also doing a ton of capital investment in infrastructure, things like bridges, tunnels, new maintenance facilities. In fact, we're spending half a billion dollars a month on new capital investments.
- [02:14]
Dani Burger
Hey, Roger, if I can just jump in because I am someone who rides the Amtrak all the time, that Northeast Corridor, I go from New York down to my home of where I grew up in D.C. where my family is very frequently. And I can say without a doubt that the experience on the Amtrak is way better than flying. The issue is, is that very, very frequently riding on the Amtrak and not even the seller is much more expensive. The experience has gotten more expensive with the introduction of dynamic pricing that I myself over the past couple of weekends have opted instead to fly because it's been significantly cheaper. Where is the tipping point if your flight goes. If your flight goes on? A very important part.
- [02:54]
Roger Harris
Thank you, Matt.
- [02:55]
Dani Burger
A very important part to say. But okay, what is the tipping point? You see, you no longer continue to raise prices because people will opt for a cheaper option, be it driving themselves or a plane.
- [03:07]
Roger Harris
Yeah, well, this is a very Good question, Danny. So, I mean, part of the question, part of the dilemma we have is that there's so much interest in passenger rail these days across the country. We're seeing ridership surges in all areas. And it's supply and demand. Right. If we lower the prices too much, then the plane, the trains fill up too soon and there isn't a seat available for that last minute customer. But we see help on the way in terms of more capacity, because that's really the answer when you have a ton of demand like we do today. So the new Acelo trains, which we're rolling out, have 27% more seats than the old generation of sellers. We are focusing very hard on rolling out those new sellers. So we have five, we have seven in service at the moment, and, and we're going to have 24 by the end of this coming year. And then the new fleet that rolls in as well will be additional capacity. So I think that's really the light at the end of the tunnel.
- [04:11]
Matt Miller
I have to say, and I told you about this before, Roger, I have a fantastic time on the Amtrak. I recently rode down to Richmond and it was an incredibly refreshing and relaxing experience compared to the hustle and bustle of the airport with, you know, my flights often getting canceled. When I get there, however, it was incredibly slow, like I had all day, so it was no big deal. But I feel like I could have at some points walked faster. And I've lived a lot of my life in Germany where the trains do a solid 200 miles an hour. Why are our trains, why is our technology so much slower than that of the rest of the developed world? Why don't we have high speed rail?
- [04:57]
Roger Harris
Yeah. So, you know, many of the trains we have can go faster than the infrastructure allows. And it's really about not only the rails, but also things like the electrical systems, the wires overhead that supply the electricity for the trains. Right.
- [05:12]
Matt Miller
But the Germans have figured this out, the French have figured this out, the Spanish have figured this out. Why can't Americans make fast trains?
- [05:20]
Roger Harris
Right. Well, we have to replace all that infrastructure in order to make the trains go faster, because the, you know, that infrastructure I was telling you about, basically 100 years old, and trains didn't go that fast 100 years ago. So that's what we're working on. It takes a long time to do that, unfortunately.
- [05:37]
Dani Burger
Well, during the government shutdown, Roger, I'm sure this doesn't help. President Trump said that he had terminated $16 billion in federal funding for a new tunnel on the Northeast Corridor, would you like to see more aid, more funding coming from this Trump administration?
- [05:50]
Roger Harris
Roger, we've, in general, we've seen the funding come through every month, the big projects that we're working on. I think that the challenge at hand is really to kind of buckle down and get the projects done that we're already working on.
- [06:09]
Matt Miller
So I wonder about, especially around here, Roger, we care so much about the New York area, and the Hudson Tunnel project is going to be scrapped under the Trump administration to canceling funding for that. How does that affect the. The Northeast corridor and its most congested area?
- [06:29]
Roger Harris
So we're still working through that, and I think that, you know, work goes on every day while there's money available. So I think the most important thing is to not have these projects get interrupted, because that's when things start to cost a lot more money. On the east side of Manhattan, we're working on rehabilitating East River Tunnels. We're going to have the first one back in service next July. So those are the things that we're focusing on right now.
- [06:55]
Dani Burger
Roger, when it comes to leadership, obviously you are there at the helm of AM Track, but Stephen Gardner was asked to resign as CEO just two months into the Trump administration. Are there any plans to replace him? And how is your relationship currently with the White House given some of that back and forth to start his term?
- [07:14]
Roger Harris
Mm. Well, it's a question I get frequently. You know, I come to work every day knowing that there could be further changes. But so far, I think we've been working very well with the administration doing the things that they're doing that we have in common. We want to. We're on a great railroad. We want to get this infrastructure built. And if you've traveled west out of Manhattan recently, you've seen the Portal North Bridge that's grown up out of the marsh almost. And we're going to have the first trains operating on that span with our partners, New Jersey Transit, shortly after the new year. So there's real, tangible evidence of this investment in infrastructure.
- [07:56]
Matt Miller
I got to ask about New Jersey Transit. It's the bane of many people's existence, right? I. I think, intelligently chose Westchester as a place to live. And Metro north is awesome and always working and very often on time, whereas New Jersey Transit, like, we write stories on a weekly basis about how bad it is, the delays, you know, the stoppage in tunnels. Why. Why is that such a problem compared to riding up and down from Westchester? Why is crossing over the river into New Jersey so much more painful for commuters.
- [08:32]
Roger Harris
Well, I think that, I think one of the problems is that going west, we only have two tubes under the Hudson, whereas there's a lot more capacity coming into Grand Central Station for Metro North. And even from the east, there are four tunnels under the East River. But I would say this, that all railroads have a really hard time every day facing the just that, the reality of old infrastructure and the reality of the operation. And I think it's, there's plenty of challenges to go around.
- [09:06]
Matt Miller
Got to invest in that infrastructure.
- [09:07]
Dani Burger
Got to invest in infrastructure. Roger, thank you so much for joining us. That's Roger Harris of Amtrak.
- [09:13]
Indiana University Announcer
This podcast is brought to you by FedEx. The new power Move. Hey, you know those people in your office who are always pulling old school corporate power moves? Like the guy who weaponizes eye contact. He's confident, he's engaged, he's often creepy. It's an old school power move. But this alpha dog laser gaze won't keep your supply chain moving across borders. The real power move? Having a smart platform that keeps up with the changing trade landscape. That's why smart businesses partner with FedEx and use the power of digital intelligence to navigate around supply chain issues before they happen. Set your sights on something that will actually improve your business. FedEx, the new power Move.