Amtrak's Long-Distance Train Performance
September 2017
For September 2017, the Bull Sheet has calculated that 34 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 49 minutes late.
The average arrival of the 66 percent of trains that were behind schedule was one hour and 14 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 September 2017 was as follows:
Train
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Auto Train 57 %
1 hour, 10 mins late
2 hours, 43 mins late
California Zephyr 22 %
1 hour, 7 mins late
1 hour, 26 mins late
Capitol Limited 28 %
41 mins late
58 mins late
Cardinal 27 %
1 hour, 16 mins late
1 hour, 44 mins late
Carolinian 33 %
41 mins late
1 hour, 1 min late
City of New Orleans 42 %
21 mins late
35 mins late
Coast Starlight 56 %
47 mins late
1 hour, 48 mins late
Crescent 19 %
1 hour, 4 mins late
1 hour, 19 mins late
Empire Builder 83 %
8 mins late
46 mins late
Lake Shore Limited 22 %
44 mins late
56 mins late
Maple Leaf 28 %
24 mins late
34 mins late
Palmetto 8 %
40 mins late
43 mins late
Silver Meteor 16 %
1 hour, 39 mins late
1 hour, 58 mins late
Silver Star 9 %
1 hour, 41 mins late
1 hour, 50 mins late
Southwest Chief 27 %
1 hour, 53 mins late
2 hours, 35 mins late
Sunset Limited 54 %
30 mins late
1 hour, 4 mins late
Texas Eagle 45 %
40 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
Vermonter 16 %
25 mins late
29 mins late
Daily Recap . . . . .
Date
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Friday September 1 18 %
1 hour, 9 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
Saturday, September 2 29 %
56 mins late
1 hour, 19 mins late
Sunday, September 3 49 %
29 mins late
57 mins late
Labor Day 57 %
33 mins late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Tuesday, September 5 39 %
26 mins late
42 mins late
Wednesday, September 6 41 %
52 mins late
1 hour, 29 mins late
Thursday, September 7 37 %
40 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
Friday, September 8 21 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 17 mins late
Saturday, September 9 35 %
27 mins late
41 mins late
Sunday, September 10 48 %
30 mins late
57 mins late
Monday, September 11 56 %
22 mins late
50 mins late
Tuesday, September 12 38 %
39 mins late
1 hour, 2 mins late
Wednesday, September 13 37 %
35 mins late
55 mins late
Thursday, September 14 19 %
37 mins late
46 mins late
Friday, September 15 32 %
1 hour, 29 mins late
2 hours, 11 mins late
Saturday, September 16 36 %
34 mins late
53 mins late
Sunday, September 17 46 %
15 mins late
28 mins late
Monday, September 18 37 %
28 mins late
45 mins late
Tuesday, September 19 28 %
30 mins late
41 mins late
Wednesday, September 20 30 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 35 mins late
Thursday, September 21 29 %
57 mins late
1 hour, 20 mins late
Friday, September 22 28 %
1 hour, 33 mins late
2 hours, 9 mins late
Saturday, September 23 29 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 34 mins late
Sunday, September 24 40 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 50 mins late
Monday, September 25 28 %
1 hour, 3 mins late
1 hour, 28 mins late
Tuesday, September 26 26 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 6 mins late
Wednesday, September 27 26 %
54 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
Thursday, September 28 29 %
1 hour, 4 mins late
1 hour, 30 mins late
Friday, September 29 36 %
36 mins late
57 mins late
Saturday, September 30 23 %
1 hour, 20 mins late
1 hour, 43 mins late
. .
.
.
Composite for Month 34 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 14 mins late
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
September Comparison, This Year vs Last Year:
September 2017 34 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 14 mins late
September 2016 38 %
41 mins late
1 hour, 6 mins late
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monthly Recap, This Year
Month
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
August 2017 26 %
1 hour, 2 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
September 2017 34 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 14 mins late