AMTRAK REVOLUTION!

[patach]

Amtrak Threatens to End Service

What a surprising move from a service that I used all the time during the summer :p

[pluckyduck]

I'm a big fan of trains, but, sadly, this isn't a surprise to me at all. I'm too lazy to look up all of the details at the moment, but I've been following the Amtrak business goings on for a long time now.

Basically, Amtrak has an impossible mission. They've been mandated to get off of the public dole (huge subsidies), yet expected to provide nationwide rail service. You can't get blood out of a stone, and you can't make enough money maintaining and running comprehensive nationwide rail service to pay the bills.

If we want Amtrak off the public dole, they have to cut the unprofitable lines and keep the profitable ones (like the northeast corridor). If we want nationwide service, we have to continue to subsidize them heavily.

One or the other.

If I had to pick, I'd probably pick the profitable choice, but it pains me. I think trains are cool and I think having nationwide train service is a credit to a country.

Andrea

[realtraveller]

They're going to cut the Coast Starlight, a run I've always meant to take between Los Angeles and Seattle, but haven't. Why? It's as or more expensive than flying. The trains are rarely on time. It takes almost as long as driving without the flexibility to stop and see the sights that a car provides.

It's the worst of all worlds.

[kurt_messick]

A good train service is a joy. But it rarely works without subsidies even in countries that rely heavily on it. In a country as auto-dependent as this one, it unlikely to survive as mass transit outside well-known and well-used areas.