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Table 4-27: Energy Intensity of Amtrak Services (Loss-adjusted conversion factors)

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  1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Revenue passenger-miles (millions)a 3,753 4,503 4,785 6,057 6,273 6,091 6,199 5,869 5,401 5,066 5,166 5,325 5,289 5,574 5,571
Total fuel consumed (billion Btu)a,b (R) 10,616 (R) 11,431 (R) 12,039 (R) 14,795 (R) 14,501 (R) 14,406 (R) 14,596 (R) 13,391 (R) 13,510 (R) 13,629 (R) 14,521 (R) 14,847 (R) 15,565 (R) 18,033 (R) 18,144
Electric (millions of kWh)a,b 180 254 295 330 303 300 301 309 336 363 390 416 443 470 456
Diesel (million gallons) 63 64 65 82 82 82 83 74 72 71 76 76 79 95 97
Energy intensity (Btu/revenue passenger-mile)a,b (R)2,829 (R)2,539 (R)2,516 (R)2,443 (R)2,312 (R)2,365 (R)2,355 2,282 2,501 2,690 2,811 2,788 2,943 3,235 3,257

 

  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Revenue passenger-miles (millions)a 5,314 5,680 5,511 5,381 5,410 5,784 6,179 5,914 6,420 (R) 6,568 6,804 6,810 6,675 6,536
Total fuel consumed (billion Btu)a,b (R) 17,069 (R) 15,901 (R) 15,209 (R) 14,576 (R) 14,338 (R) 14,549 (R) 14,815 (R) 14,400 (R) 14,580 (R) 14,543 14,424 14,589 14,442 13,875
Electric (millions of kWh)a,b 518 537 551 531 549 578 582 565 559 555 549 525 515 504
Diesel (million gallons) 84 75 69 65 62 62 63 62 63 63 63 66 66 62
Energy intensity (Btu/revenue passenger-mile)a,b 3,212 2,800 2,760 2,709 2,650 2,515 2,398 2,435 2,271 2,214 2,120 2,142 2,164 2,123
                             

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; kWh = kilowatt hour; U = data are not available.

a Energy use for 1994 on is not directly comparable to earlier years. Some commuter rail energy use may have been inadvertently included in earlier years. b Includes electric power generation and distribution losses.

NOTES

Energy intensity (Btu/revenue passenger-mile) is calculated by the source and may differ from direct calculations.

Diesel = 138,700 Btu/gallon. Electric = 10,399 Btu/kWh. The electric conversion factor takes into account losses associated with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, and thus it is more than three times the value of the factor that is used in table 4-26.

SOURCES

Revenue passenger-miles: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Transportation Analysis, Transportation Energy Databook, Edition 32 (Oak Ridge, TN: 2012), table 9.10, available at http://www.cta.ornl.gov/data as of Aug. 15, 2013. 2001-15: Amtrak, personal communications, Jan. 7, 2010, Jul. 26, 2011, Apr. 24, 2012 and Jun. 23, 2016

Fuel consumed:

1975-2001: Amtrak., State and Local Affairs Department, personal communication.

2001-15: Amtrak, personal communications, Jan. 7, 2010, Jul. 26, 2011, Apr. 24, 2012 and Jun. 23, 2016