Amtrak's Long-Distance Train Performance
January 2017
For the month of January 2017, the Bull Sheet has calculated that 39 percent of Amtrak's named long-distance trains arrived at their final destination on time or earlier.
The average arrival of all long-distance trains in the survey period was 59 minutes late.
The average arrival of the 61 percent of trains that were behind schedule was one hour and 37 minutes late.
A train is considered late whenever it arrives at its final destination behind schedule, even if only by a minute. Sufficient padding is incorporated into long-distance train schedules to eliminate the need for grace allowances in showing a train arriving on time when it is actually nominally late.
Trains arriving ahead of schedule are shown 'on time,' with no extra credit given to offset other arrivals that are late. Trains that are canceled, truncated, referred by Amtrak as 'service disrupted,' or given unreliable data are typically excluded.
This survey was compiled by the Bull Sheet's statistical department comprehending actual performance as reported for each affected train on Amtrak's website.
Individual train performance over the course of the month of January 2017 was as follows:
Train
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Auto Train 49 %
1 hour, 10 mins late
2 hours, 17 mins late
California Zephyr 14 %
3 hours, 25 mins late
4 hours late
Capitol Limited 40 %
31 mins late
52 mins late
Cardinal 54 %
29 mins late
1 hour, 2 mins late
Carolinian 50 %
33 mins late
1 hour, 7 mins late
City of New Orleans 47 %
25 mins late
48 mins late
Coast Starlight 28 %
2 hours, 9 mins late
2 hours, 59 mins late
Crescent 21 %
1 hour, 18 mins late
1 hour, 39 mins late
Empire Builder 18 %
2 hours, 16 mins late
2 hours, 45 mins late
Lake Shore Limited 30 %
34 mins late
49 mins late
Maple Leaf 69 %
3 mins late
11 mins late
Palmetto 24 %
44 mins late
58 mins late
Silver Meteor 32 %
54 mins late
1 hour, 19 mins late
Silver Star 32 %
54 mins late
1 hour, 19 mins late
Southwest Chief 58 %
27 mins late
1 hour, 5 mins late
Sunset Limited 78 %
16 mins late
1 hour, 14 mins late
Texas Eagle 65 %
33 mins late
1 hour, 32 mins late
Vermonter 16 %
25 mins late
30 mins late
Daily Recap, January 2017 . . . . .
Date
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Sunday, January 1 47 %
38 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
Monday, January 2 53 %
32 mins late
1 hour, 8 mins late
Tuesday, January 3 39 %
50 mins late
1 hour, 23 mins late
Wednesday, January 4 36 %
39 mins late
1 hour, 2 mins late
Thursday, January 5 31 %
1 hour, 5 mins late
1 hour, 35 mins late
Friday, January 6 26 %
1 hour, 21 mins late
1 hour, 49 mins late
Saturday, January 7 16 %
1 hour, 30 mins late
1 hour, 47 mins late
Sunday, January 8 20 %
2 hours, 12 mins late
2 hours, 45 mins late
Monday, January 9 29 %
1 hour, 38 mins late
2 hours, 17 mins late
Tuesday, January 10 17 %
1 hour, 56 mins late
2 hours, 20 mins late
Wednesday, January 11 24 %
1 hour, 8 mins late
1 hour, 30 mins late
Thursday, January 12 30 %
1 hour, 28 mins late
2 hours, 5 mins late
Friday, January 13 39 %
1 hour, 49 mins late
2 hours, 59 mins late
Saturday, January 14 38 %
52 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
Sunday, January 15 60 %
31 mins late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Monday, January 16 52 %
46 mins late
1 hour, 36 mins late
Tuesday, January 17 47 %
38 mins late
1 hour, 11 mins late
Wednesday, January 18 42 %
45 mins late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Thursday, January 19 45 %
28 mins late
52 mins late
Friday, January 20 42 %
59 mins late
1 hour, 40 mins late
Saturday, January 21 44 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 48 mins late
Sunday, January 22 37 %
1 hour, 12 mins late
1 hour, 55 mins late
Monday, January 23 23 %
1 hour, 10 mins late
1 hour, 30 mins late
Tuesday, January 24 44 %
1 hour, 14 mins late
2 hours, 11 mins late
Wednesday, January 25 33 %
1 hour, 20 mins late
2 hours late
Thursday, January 26 41 %
46 mins late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Friday, January 27 49 %
28 mins late
55 mins late
Saturday, January 28 47 %
22 mins late
42 mins late
Sunday, January 29 57 %
18 mins late
42 mins late
Monday, January 30 44 %
37 mins late
1 hour, 6 mins late
Tuesday, January 31 38 %
42 mins late
1 hour, 7 mins late
Composite for January 39 %
59 mins late
1 hour, 37 mins late
January Comparison With Previous Two Years:
January 2016 55 %
31 mins late
1 hour, 8 mins late
January 2015 52 %
37 mins late
1 hour, 18 mins late