“The strategy may include the paid media and creative approach, experiential/promotional initiatives and partnerships. PR considerations may be included as well; however, the scope of this contract does not include PR support as Amtrak has a contract with another firm to perform work in this area,” Amtrak wrote in its RFP.
The pandemic has caused a shift in the types of riders that use Amtrak, according to the RFP. Before the pandemic began, Acela ridership was made up of 60% business travelers and 40% leisure travelers, the RFP stated. Now, it is nearly the opposite—business travelers make up 38% of Acela ridership, and leisure travelers 62%.
“This shift placed Acela in competition not only with airline shuttles but personal vehicles, and even other Amtrak products, with 52% of Acela’s customer base also traveling on other Amtrak routes. The strategy must reflect the change in customer base while also supporting possible ongoing shifts in types of travel, purpose of travel, and demographics. It should position Acela as Amtrak’s premier product while remaining approachable for the leisure travel audience,” Amtrak wrote in its RFP.
“The diminution of business travel has created a unique opportunity to bring in more new customers, but those customers, many of whom as noted previously are leisure travelers, are more price sensitive, and do not travel as frequently as business travel loyalists,” the RFP continued. “Prior to the pandemic, 54% of Acela customers took three or more trips on Acela annually; today only 17% of customers take more than three trips annually.”
The RFP also explained some of the new fleet’s enhancements including new trains with 25% more seats, a top speed of 160 MPH, which is 10 MPH more than the current fleet, and at least a 20% reduction in energy consumption. There will be 28 trainsets, which is 20 more than the existing fleet.