Average Speed

Average Speed is the regularly scheduled time it takes for service to cover its route. This includes time needed to make station stops and any padding in the schedule. It is also called the "commercial speed".

Amtrak

Amtrak's Acela on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) is still the fastest when measuring average speed, although the New York to New Haven segment is a fairly slow 51.7 MPH, dragging the speed of the recently electrified portion through New England down to 66.0 MPH.

Amtrak's improvements to the Keystone Corridor, completed in 2006, have increased the average speed of both local and express trains, making them the fastest trains outside the NEC.

An Empire Corridor express train making 65.1 MPH is listed in the October 2006 timetable, but was not actually running when the timetable took effect.

Amtrak	Time	Miles	MPH	km/h
Acela (BOS-WAS)	6:30	457	70.3	113.1
Acela (BOS-NYP)	3:30	231	66.0	106.2
Acela (NYP-WAS)	2:45	226	82.2	132.2
Acela (NYP-PHL)	1:12	91	75.8	122.0
Acela (NYP-NHV)	1:27	75	51.7	83.2
Acela (NHV-BOS)	2:07	156	73.7	118.6

Keystone Express (PHL-HAR)	1:30	104.2	69.5	111.8
Keystone Local (PHL-HAR)	1:45	104.2	59.5	95.8
Keystone (PHL-NYP)	1:20	91	68.3	109.8
Keystone (PHL-ARD)	0:12	8	40.0	64.4
Keystone (ARD-PAO)	0:13	11	50.8	81.7

Empire Express (NYP-ALB)	2:10	141	65.1	104.7
Empire Local (NYP-ALB)	2:25	141	58.3	93.9

SEPTA

SEPTA Regional Rail

SEPTA Regional Rail trains are generally 4 to 5 minutes slower across all lines compared to trains that ran in 1980. This results in a decrease in average speed. After the Center City Commuter Tunnel opened, speeds decreased due to padding added to schedules. Departure times at 30th Street Station are consistently set at 4 minutes after the departure time from Suburban Station for both peak and off-peak trains, even though passenger boarding counts are much lower during off-peak times. The older time tables would be one minute faster in this respect on off-peak trains.

Another segment with extra padding in 2006 is the time between leaving 30th Street Station and arriving at the first outlying station. For example, Overbrook is 9 minutes after 30th Street Station in 2006, but in 1981 and 1969 it was 7 minutes, unless there was an extra station stop at 52nd Street Station. The Overbrook to Paoli segment is 2 minutes longer, and that totals 5 minutes extra time in the 2006 schedules.

The opening of University City station added an extra stop to the R1, R2, and R3 lines, on a section of 40 MPH track. This should add about one minute to scheduled times, but in 2006 there are two extra minutes compared to 1980.

SEPTA Regional Rail	Miles	Minutes	MPH	km/h
R2 Wilmington (Suburban to Wilmington), 2006	26.7	49	32.7	52.6
PC Wilmington (Suburban to Wilmington), 1970	26.7	45	35.6	57.3
R3 Elwyn (Suburban to Elwyn), 2006	15.1	40	22.7	36.4
PC Elwyn (Suburban to Elwyn), 1975	15.1	35	25.9	41.7
R5 Paoli (Suburban to Paoli), 2006	20.0	45	26.7	42.9
PC Paoli (Suburban to Paoli), 1966	20.0	40	30.0	48.3
R5 Lansdale (Market East to Lansdale), 2006	24.5	50	29.4	47.3
Reading Terminal to Lansdale, 1966	24.4	48	30.5	49.1
R2 Warminster (Market East to Hatboro), 2006	18.7	49	22.9	36.8
Reading Terminal to Hatboro, 1973	18.6	43	26.0	41.8

On the Reading side, the scheduled times for trains that make the same number of stops are slower today than in the past. However, historical timetables show that the Reading Lines were much more aggressive about skipping stops on the Lansdale line between Jenkintown and Center City. The Lansdale schedule from 1966 shows many trains that make 4 or fewer stops between Jenkintown and Reading Terminal, and also shows connecting train times for those wishing to travel to or from the intermediate stations that were skipped.

The Cost of Schedule Padding — $2 Million a Year or More

Cost of Schedule Padding
Trains per week	4,552	4,552	4,552
Trains per year	236,704	236,704	236,704
Minutes of delay	1	3	5
Hours lost per year	3,945	11,835	19,725
Cost at $98.10/hr	387,011	1,161,033	1,935,055
Cost at $140/hr	552,309	1,656,928	2,761,547
Cost at $500/hr	1,972,533	5,917,600	9,862,667

The table on the right shows the annual cost of schedule padding. Each minute added to every train's schedule costs SEPTA from $387,000 to $1.9 million per year. The direct labor cost for a crew of two is $98.10 per hour, and multiplied by the extra hours where the crew sits in the station waiting for the scheduled departure time, it comes out to over $387,000 per year for each minute. Considering that 3 minutes could easily be eliminated from the time it takes trains to go through the Center City Commuter Tunnel, the savings would be at least $1 million in direct labor costs alone.

The Bucks County TMA calculates that the total operating cost of a train is $250 per vehicle revenue hour (in its Quakertown-Stony Creek study). SEPTA's actual fully allocated cost per vehicle revenue hour ranges from $280 to $435, according to their Annual Service Plan. Assuming a minimum of two cars per train, that is a minimum of $500 per hour, and nearly $2 million per year for each minute of schedule padding. However, the fully allocated costs includes some fixed costs that cannot be reduced by having the trains run shorter schedules.

Every minute that a SEPTA train is not carrying passengers to their final destination is an expense to SEPTA. The extra five minutes of padding built into the schedule of every train costs SEPTA from $2 to 10 million per year.

SEPTA Rapid Transit

The Norristown High Speed Line (NHSL) or Route 100 has not seen the sort of schedule padding and decrease in average speed that the Regional Rail trains have seen. Locals are two minutes slower, but a new Limited service which skips more stops makes the 13.4 mile run in 20 minutes, for an average speed of 40.2 MPH.

SEPTA Rapid Transit	Miles	Minutes	MPH	km/h
NHSL Local, 2006	13.4	28	28.7	46.2
NHSL Local, 1974	13.4	26	30.9	49.8
NHSL Limited, 2006	13.4	20	40.2	64.7
NHSL Limited, 1974	13.4	23	35.0	56.2
BSL Local	10.0	35	17.1	27.6
BSL Express	7.0	19	22.1	35.6
MFL	12.9	39	19.8	31.9

Sources: See Historical Time Tables.