Amtrak's Long-Distance Train Performance
March 2022
Thirty-three percent of Amtrak's named long-distance trains arrived at their final destination on time or earlier in March 2022.
The average arrival of all long-distance trains in the survey period was 57 minutes late.
The average arrival of just those trains that were behind schedule was one hour and 26 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 even though it is actually late. Amtrak routinely reports trains arriving on time if they are nominally late, within certain guidelines. But the Bull Sheet conveys more realistic parameters reflecting actual performance (on time, or it is late).
Trains arriving ahead of schedule are simply shown 'on time,' with no extra credit for minutes in advance given to offset other arrivals that are late. Trains that are canceled, truncated, terminated en route, or provided with ambiguous or unreliable data are excluded from the survey.
This survey was compiled by the Bull Sheet's statistical department comprehending actual performance as reported for each affected train on Amtrak's website. Data only apply to arrival at final destination; average arrival at intermediate stations will generally differ.
Average daily long-distance train performance in March 2022 was as follows:
Date
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Tuesday, March 1 45 %
53 mins late
1 hour, 36 mins late
Wednesday, March 2 48 %
23 mins late
44 mins late
Thursday, March 3 32 %
47 mins late
1 hour, 8 mins late
Friday, March 4 31 %
52 mins late
1 hour, 15 mins late
Saturday, March 5 30 %
1 hour, 2 mins late
1 hour, 29 mins late
Sunday, March 6 57 %
30 mins late
1 hour, 10 mins late
Monday, March 7 21 %
1 hour, 3 mins late
1 hour, 20 mins late
Tuesday, March 8 48 %
45 mins late
1 hour, 27 mins late
Wednesday, March 9 22 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
Thursday, March 10 30 %
1 hour, 5 mins late
1 hour, 33 mins late
Friday, March 11 31 %
56 mins late
1 hour, 21 mins late
Saturday, March 12 35 %
1 hour, 31 mins late
2 hours, 19 mins late
Sunday, March 13 20 %
1 hour, 5 mins late
1 hour, 22 mins late
Monday, March 14 37 %
1 hour, 13 mins late
1 hour, 55 mins late
Tuesday, March 15 31 %
1 hour, 33 mins late
2 hours, 15 mins late
Wednesday, March 16 26 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
1 hour, 30 mins late
Thursday, March 18 35 %
48 mins late
1 hour, 13 mins late
Friday, March 19 24 %
50 mins late
1 hour, 6 mins late
Saturday, March 19 50 %
30 mins late
1 hour late
Sunday, March 20 28 %
45 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
Monday, March 21 27 %
1 hour, 25 mins late
1 hour, 56 mins late
Tuesday, March 22 43 %
1 hour, 11 mins late
2 hours, 5 mins late
Wednesday, March 23 32 %
39 mins late
57 mins late
Thursday, March 24 40 %
29 mins late
49 mins late
Friday, March 25 21 %
1 hour, 33 mins late
1 hour, 57 mins late
Saturday, March 26 35 %
33 mins late
54 mins late
Sunday, March 27 24 %
44 mins late
58 mins late
Monday, March 28 30 %
1 hour, 8 mins late
1 hour, 37 mins late
Tuesday, March 29 38 %
49 mins late
1 hour, 20 mins late
Wednesday, March 30 35 %
30 mins late
46 mins late
Thursday, March 31 29 %
1 hour, 26 mins late
2 hours, 1 min late
Composite for Month 33 %
57 mins late
1 hour, 26 mins late
Eight-year comparison for March . . .
8-year comparison
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
March 2015 34 %
1 hour late
1 hour, 30 mins late
March 2016 44 %
40 mins late
1 hour, 12 mins late
March 2017 26 %
1 hour, 9 mins late
1 hour, 33 mins late
March 2018 39 %
57 mins late
1 hour, 32 mins late
March 2019 34 %
1 hour, 21 mins late
2 hours, 2 mins late
March 2020 54 %
37 mins late
1 hour, 21 mins late
March 2021 42 %
50 mins late
1 hour, 26 mins late
March 2022 33 %
57 mins late
1 hour, 26 mins late
March 2022 Train-by-Train Performance . . .
Train
Pct on-time arrival
Overall avg arrival
Avg arrival if late
Auto Train 19 %
51 mins late
1 hour, 3 mins late
California Zephyr 27 %
1 hour, 41 mins late
2 hours, 18 mins late
Capitol Limited 11 %
1 hour, 40 mins late
1 hour, 52 mins late
Cardinal 21 %
46 mins late
58 mins late
Carolinian 45 %
20 mins late
37 mins late
City of New Orleans 54 %
51 mins late
1 hour, 52 mins late
Coast Starlight 50 %
30 mins late
1 hour, 1 min late
Crescent 33 %
56 mins late
1 hour, 24 mins late
Empire Builder 55 %
1 hour, 6 mins late
2 hours, 27 mins late
Lake Shore Limited 35 %
46 mins late
1 hour, 10 mins late
Maple Leaf [no data]
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.
Palmetto 41 %
24 mins late
42 mins late
Silver Meteor [no data]
.
.
Silver Star 3 %
1 hour, 39 mins late
1 hour, 42 mins late
Southwest Chief 26 %
1 hour, 23 mins late
1 hour, 52 mins late
Sunset Limited 13 %
2 hours, 50 mins late
3 hours, 15 mins late
Texas Eagle 43 %
39 mins late
1 hour, 10 mins late
Vermonter 31 %
10 mins late
15 mins late
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Year-to-Date 2022 Standings * - Percentage On-Time Arrival
Train |
Pct on-time arrival |
| City of New Orleans | 64 % |
| Texas Eagle | 61 % |
| Silver Meteor | 59 % |
| Carolinian | 54 % |
| Coast Starlight | 54 % |
| Palmetto | 48 % |
| Vermonter | 44 % |
| Empire Builder | 43 % |
| Southwest Chief | 39 % |
| Lake Shore Limited | 38 % |
| Auto Train | 37 % |
| Sunset Limited | 34 % |
| Crescent | 26 % |
| Cardinal | 26 % |
| California Zephyr | 26 % |
| Silver Star | 24 % |
| Capitol Limited | 16 % |
Year-to-Date 2022 Standings * - Overall Average Arrival
Train |
Overall avg arrival |
| Vermonter | 10 mins late |
| Carolinian | 16 mins late |
| Palmetto | 19 mins late |
| Texas Eagle | 26 mins late |
| City of New Orleans | 30 mins late |
| Lake Shore Limited | 40 mins late |
| Auto Train | 51 mins late |
| Coast Starlight | 54 mins late |
| Cardinal | 58 mins late |
| Silver Meteor | 58 mins late |
| Southwest Chief | 1 hour, 11 mins late |
| Silver Star | 1 hour, 13 mins late |
| Capitol Limited | 1 hour, 19 mins late |
| Crescent | 1 hour, 25 mins late |
| Empire Builder | 1 hour, 32 mins late |
| Sunset Limited | 1 hour, 46 mins late |
| California Zephyr | 2 hours late |
Year-to-Date 2022 Standings * - Average Arrival, Only When Late
Train |
Avg arrival when late |
| Vermonter | 19 mins late |
| Carolinian | 35 mins late |
| Palmetto | 37 mins late |
| Lake Shore Limited | 1 hour, 5 mins late |
| Texas Eagle | 1 hour, 5 mins late |
| Cardinal | 1 hour, 18 mins late |
| Auto Train | 1 hour, 21 mins late |
| City of New Orleans | 1 hour, 24 mins late |
| Capitol Limited | 1 hour, 34 mins late |
| Silver Star | 1 hour, 37 mins late |
| Crescent | 1 hour, 55 mins late |
| Coast Starlight | 1 hour, 56 mins late |
| Southwest Chief | 1 hour, 57 mins late |
| Silver Meteor | 2 hours, 21 mins late |
| Sunset Limited | 2 hours, 40 mins late |
| California Zephyr | 2 hours, 41 mins late |
| Empire Builder | 2 hours, 42 mins late |
* First three months of 2022
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