Like I said in the title, this post is not really about trains and Amtrak per se.Some private companies that screen airline passengers are charging more for their services now that the government is footing the bill, says a federal report that found one company nearly doubled its rates.
The Transportation Department's inspector general also found cases where the companies billed the government for absent employees and work that was never completed. And it found lax oversight by government officials.
That said the above article from 1010 WINS News, only goes to show why privatization will never accomplish the goals of lowering costs for the Federal Government with regard to train travel. Any train travel in this country will always require some government help, without it no company will ever agree to run trains. No company will ever be able to survive running trains without Government help. Remember that’s why Amtrak was formed, because the freight companies were going bankrupt trying to run passenger service.
Once they know that they are getting government help, the exact same situation described in the article above will occur. They will look for any and every way to get more money from the Feds money pot, just like these private security companies. Just like the company that sold the Air Force those 20,000 dollar coffee pots, or that other company that sold the Air Force those 1,000 dollar toilet seats.
So to all those who might think that privatization will fix what is wrong with Amtrak, I say stick with the devil you know. The private sector’s track record when it comes to working for the Government is worse than Amtrak’s record and since any train service will require subsidy, this means that they will be working for the Government.
For those who wish to view the entire article, you can see it here.