Um, the biggest problem with the original post is that the federal government transferred the Alaska Railroad to the state a number of years ago ... so any losses are subsidized by the Alaska state government. The feds have nothing to do with it anymore.
IIRC, the Alaska Railroad runs at an overall profit: They lose some money on the passenger services but turn a profit on freight services.
I'll agree that their winter service falls a bit short. Part of that is a function of the tourist market (or lack thereof): IIRC, the Alaska Railroad gets
most of their business from tourists (either short-hop passengers on the routes around Anchorage or to/from Denali tourists). They
have to maintain a several-days-a-week service on a shorter section around Anchorage, too, because you have an area with either bad or non-existent roads in the region.
However, I do have to wonder how reliable air service is in the area in the winter as well as how reliable the train service is. It's a shame that the state doesn't support daily service and/or that the Alaska Railroad doesn't use their pre-1960s overnight schedule...but I
do understand the reasons in this case...but if I'm being honest, a 3-times-weekly train (that would only use one equipment set) would probably make more sense. It'd be better than once-weekly, at least.
As to the situation in general, however...the Alaska Railroad seems to handle things just fine. Let them keep doing so.
(An aside: How
is the Alaska-Seattle ferry service?)