Officials said that Iowa Pacific asked to be released from its contract that would have ended on June 30.
“We are certainly grateful to INDOT for providing the opportunity to demonstrate that service enhancements can drive improvements in customer satisfaction, revenue, and ridership,” Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis tells Trains News Wire.
According to state transportation department representative Will Wingfield, the state has paid Amtrak $3.9 million since the service began in August 2015, and $500,000 to Iowa Pacific.
By all accounts though, the Hoosier State was a successful venture. According to the Indianaoplis Star, ridership increased 14 percent in between August 2015 and August 2016, including jumps of 65 percent in June and 63 percent in July.
The train added features including a dining car, domed lounge, wireless Internet, and business class seating. Wingfield says the state would continue the Internet service and business seating. Amtrak representatives say they would inform passengers what services will be provided once it completes an interim contract to continue service until June 30.
UPDATE: Full story with comments from the state of Indiana and Iowa Pacific Holdings. Jan. 30, 2017, 4:03 p.m. Central time.
As with all great trains it was too good to last. I rode it 4 times Lafayette to Chicago round trip. Every time I got off at Lafayette I half expected Rod Serling to come out of the shadows.
Yes, it was that good……
Google Iowa Pacific under Google News and there are numerous articles about Iowa Pacific not paying employees on their Polar Express trains or layoffs on other excursion trains.
I going to ask a stupid question; If the Hoosier State was a “successful venture”, as stated above, why did IP drop it?
It would appear IP was losing too much money and told the state “we need a bigger subsidy or we can’t go on.” http://www.jconline.com/story/money/2017/01/30/indot-yanks-hoosier-state-train-contract/97257928/
I agree that more reporting is needed. It’s interesting to note that ridership did increase substantially, even if it wasn’t ultimately sustainable for the company. It’s also important to keep in mind that all forms of transportation are heavily subsidized, particularly the ones that directly compete with rail passenger transport. The idea that Amtrak alone (not the airlines, not the busses) should be run as a purely capitalist business is unfair at best and and discriminatory at worst.
The ability to move freely between cities is a major driver of our economy. It’s a benefit that should be enjoyed by the widest possible range of people, including those who can’t or don’t want to own a car.
Glad I got to ride the Hoosier State when I did. Nothing but downhill from here. But what’s the story? Fred? Anyone? The two days I rode it there was very low patronage both in coach and business class. It appeared to be having a tough time competing with Megabus low fares and frequent and more convenient schedules.
So much for the improved travel experience.
That didn’t last long. I wonder if it’s about the messy maintenance issues they were having……
Need some explanation here……… What is the story?
Really not good news for Iowa Pacific at all…
WELL DONE AMTRAK WELL DONE!!!! WERE ALL PROUD OF YA!
Don’t expect Trains to run any story which might appear negative toward the industry, because they try to play both sides of the fence with fans and the industry. But to quote a good ol’ boy, Iowa Pacific’s demise is like “Getting hit by a walking horse while walking across a field.”
I had just been told last week that the Only Polar Express trips that made Any money was The Grenada Railway which was sold out on ALL the trips for 2016, as were the same for 2015.
I was not able to find a “real P&L Statement” for the whole project.
In FY16 the Hoosier State carried 29,488 riders. Ticket revenues were $968,296. Fully allocated operating expenses, excluding depreciation, interest, and miscellaneous charges, were approximately $3,700,000, thereby leaving a loss of $2,731,704. The average load factor was 32.5 percent.
How anyone can call the Hoosier State a success is beyond me.
It’s probably beyond Trains’ editorial capacity but it would be great to see some real enterprise reporting on the state of Iowa Pacific. The Pullman Rail Journeys situation has already been noted in the comments. Their local “Polar Express” holiday train was beset with grave difficulties this season. Now the Hoosier State contract is being terminated early. All of which suggests there might be a story here…
Online documents indicate the Iowa Pacific contract was to go through June 30, 2017. Something must have happened to trigger the reversion to Amtrak prior to the expiration of the contract. Will be interesting to learn what happened.
It’s all about the money- IP wasn’t making any, or at least not enough to justify their efforts. Would really lik to see a real P&L statement for the whole project.
Yes I’d like to know the story behind the story. I’m planning a trip to USA later this year and enquired with Pullman Rail Journey’s about the availability on the Chicago to New Orleans service and was politely told service was suspended indefinitely. I know they were having issues getting space on the number of cars they could attach but now I read this it makes me think that there is possibly more going on at Iowa Pacific which will be very sad if it is bad news.
I knew that wasn’t going to last long.
It was too good to last, just like all the other streamliners that came before …….
A toast to Ed Ellis for sharing a little pre-Amtrak rail glory with us.