Seeking Cost Efficiency Through Benchmarking
In order to learn from international best practice, Amtrak has started to benchmark its infrastructure performance and expenditure against a group of European operators.
published in: Railway Gazette International 04/2009
The article describes how Amtrak has used 15 European passenger rail best practice operations to identify areas for improvement. The decision to compare itself to railways outside the U.S. was made because it is the only inter-city passenger operator in the U.S. and thus has no other examples with which to compare itself. Amtrak examined structural factors within the company that influenced performance, efficiency of infrastructure maintenance and asset renewal programs. Infrastructure maintenance expenses for Amtrak were higher than the average for its European peers, yet performance and reliability of Amtrak’s infrastructure were not dissimilar from that of the European trains. A larger difference was found in the obsolescence of rail, turnout and bridge assets, which drives higher maintenance costs.