Amtrak's Long-Distance Train Performance
August 2017
For the month of August 2017, the Bull Sheet has calculated that 26 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 one hour and two minutes late.
The average arrival of the 74 percent of trains that were behind schedule was one hour and 24 minutes late.
A train is considered late whenever it arrives at its final destination behind schedule, even 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. (Amtrak uses grace allowances in presenting its on-time data, which this survey does not.)
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 provided with 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 August 2017 was as follows:
Train
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Auto Train 58 %
28 mins late
1 hour, 6 mins late
California Zephyr 26 %
1 hour, 35 mins late
2 hours, 8 mins late
Capitol Limited 15 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 11 mins late
Cardinal 12 %
1 hour, 12 mins late
1 hour, 21 mins late
Carolinian 8 %
58 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
City of New Orleans 47 %
26 mins late
48 mins late
Coast Starlight 36 %
1 hour, 24 mins late
2 hours, 12 mins late
Crescent 10 %
1 hour, 31 mins late
1 hour, 41 mins late
Empire Builder 71 %
20 mins late
1 hour, 9 mins late
Lake Shore Limited 9 %
1 hour, 31 mins late
1 hour, 40 mins late
Maple Leaf 10 %
36 mins late
39 mins late
Palmetto 8 %
54 mins late
59 mins late
Silver Meteor 5 %
1 hour, 32 mins late
1 hour, 37 mins late
Silver Star 3 %
2 hours, 11 mins late
2 hours, 15 mins late
Southwest Chief 37 %
1 hour, 8 mins late
1 hour, 48 mins late
Sunset Limited 59 %
30 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
Texas Eagle 31 %
58 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
Vermonter 13 %
26 mins late
30 mins late
Daily Recap . . . . .
Date
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Tuesday, August 1 23 %
1 hour, 4 mins late
1 hour, 23 mins late
Wednesday, August 2 11 %
52 mins late
59 mins late
Thursday, August 3 18 %
1 hour, 29 mins late
1 hour, 49 mins late
Friday, August 4 24 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 18 mins late
Saturday, August 5 38 %
1 hour, 5 mins late
1 hour, 44 mins late
Sunday, August 6 35 %
1 hour, 3 mins late
1 hour, 37 mins late
Monday, August 7 23 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 26 mins late
Tuesday, August 8 20 %
1 hour, 11 mins late
1 hour, 28 mins late
Wednesday, August 9 28 %
1 hour, 14 mins late
1 hour, 42 mins late
Thursday, August 10 9 %
1 hour, 13 mins late
1 hour, 20 mins late
Friday, August 11 19 %
1 hour, 28 mins late
1 hour, 49 mins late
Saturday, August 12 23 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 18 mins late
Sunday, August 13 28 %
45 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
Monday, August 14 25 %
58 mins late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Tuesday, August 15 26 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 29 mins late
Wednesday, August 16 31 %
51 mins late
1 hour, 14 mins late
Thursday, August 17 14 %
1 hour, 4 mins late
1 hour, 15 mins late
Friday, August 18 28 %
1 hour, 13 mins late
1 hour, 40 mins late
Saturday, August 19 23 %
1 hour, 7 mins late
1 hour, 27 mins late
Sunday, August 20 31 %
44 mins late
1 hour, 4 mins late
Monday, August 21 36 %
51 mins late
1 hour, 19 mins late
Tuesday, August 22 20 %
1 hour, 29 mins late
1 hour, 51 mins late
Wednesday, August 23 22 %
1 hour, 5 mins late
1 hour, 23 mins late
Thursday, August 24 20 %
46 mins late
57 mins late
Friday, August 25 27 %
46 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
Saturday, August 26 35 %
1 hour, 2 mins late
1 hour, 36 mins late
Sunday, August 27 39 %
1 hour, 8 mins late
1 hour, 53 mins late
Monday, August 28 30 %
41 mins late
59 mins late
Tuesday, August 29 39 %
42 mins late
1 hour, 8 mins late
Wednesday, August 30 26 %
57 mins late
1 hour, 16 mins late
Thursday, August 31 28 %
1 hour, 16 mins late
1 hour, 46 mins late
Composite for Month 26 %
1 hour, 2 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
August Comparison, This Year vs Last Year:
August 2017 26 %
1 hour, 2 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
August 2016 33 %
48 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monthly Recap - Previous Seven Months This Year . (January-July)
Performance
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
January 2017 39 %
59 mins late
1 hour, 37 mins late
February 2017 40 %
50 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
March 2017 26 %
1 hour, 9 mins late
1 hour, 33 mins late
April 2017 31 %
52 mins late
1 hour, 16 mins late
May 2017 28 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 31 mins late
June 2017 20 %
1 hour, 13 mins late
1 hour, 32 mins late
July 2017 22 %
1 hour, 19 mins late
1 hour, 41 mins late