Ryan
Court Jester
All-in, infrastructure, rolling stock and operations, and providing nationwide service?Amtrak is a for profit corporation and there are several railroads making a profit on their passenger divisions (some don't even have freight divisions).Amtrak isn't supposed to make a profit. It's a public service. It should look to maximize revenues and minimize its costs to taxpayers, but at the end of the day, transporting people doesn't make money. Roads don't make money. Air travel doesn't make money (when you factor in all of the costs of providing it). Rail travel doesn't make money.
They pay taxes, just like you and I. There's also the issue of the other 290-something million of us that might like to visit there. Should we be limited to just one mode of transportation, or should we have the freedom to choose how we move about the country?Why do the very few folks on the Raton pass deserve several hundred million dollars in additional subsidy for rail travel instead of simply Greyhound? Heck, you could probably build a small airport and give EAS service to replace each station for less money.Trying to insist that it does is pants-on-head-retarded. The folks along the Raton line deserve service and should keep it. The people along the transcon deserve it as well and should get it - just not at the expense of the others.