I noticed that most of the comments were Against the article itself & For the support of Amtrak!
One of the comments, toward the end I believe, said something about -- sometimes the government needs to support things that contribute to 'quality of life' -- such as the opportunity to travel by train.
Or, on a more local level, cities providing facilities such as pools & other infrastructure (when I swim on my own in Aurora [Colorado] it's at a city pool that most likely would not be built to that level by, for example, a private health club). But of course, my city pool is also used by swim teams -- high school & age group, so there is some cost-sharing. Same concept that some cities are doing -- intermodal stations used not only by Amtrak but also by local rail & buses.
Or Amtrak itself, when they used to pull 'material handling cars' especially on the SWC -- I presume that that service didn't make enough revenue for them?
Years ago, the number (I heard) of Americans "afraid to fly" was over 20 million. Also, apparently there has recently been several new Intercity bus lines being established, sometimes even in Amtrak's market -- but a bus is so different than a train amenities-wise that I'm not sure that if "Amtrak was to disappear, that all those former riders would ride the bus".
There's also debate about whether many of the heritage passenger railroads dining car services 'made money' -- many times they 'spared no expense' to provide the passengers good food, who then told their friends, who then traveled on That railroad vs the competitor (often because of the food aboard & other services).
