Breitbart:
The Trump administration plans to dump about half of Amtrak’s $1.4 billion annual taxpayer subsidy by ending long-haul passenger services that cost taxpayers about $298 per round-trip and whose on-time performance is as low as 6 percent.
Amtrak carried a record 31.3 million passengers in 2016, the San Francisco Chroniclenotes. But the subsidy to carry about 85 percent of those passengers on short-haul commuter runs, such as the Capitol Corridor — which runs from Sacramento to Oakland and San Jose — was $700 million, or $50.98 per round-trip. The taxpayer subsidy to carry the other 15 percent of Amtrak passengers on long-haul trips was also $700 million, or a stunning $298.19 per round-trip. read more
Had some great family trips on Amtrak in the 70s, a particularly memorable thunderstorm while going through Arizona.
It was subsidized then too. Privatize it completely and let it stand or fail on its own. Some company will buy it. Same for USPS (I’m calling Amazon purchase within 2 years), and for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae.
They will never privatize Fannie, Freddie or Sallie. Those quasi-governmental agencies are where the politicos and the public servants rotate into and out of to “legitimately” earn their fortunes!
Only Government can lose money despite a unique service and a complete monopoly.
All federal subsidies to Amtrak should be eliminated.
If the States wish to keep the routes for their major metropolitan areas, then they can pay for it.
Get the federal government out of the Amtrak failure.
The last time I rode slAmTrak was about two decades ago. The train broke down about 80 miles south of Chicago, and the outside temperature was around zero. It got really cold inside the train, and we sat there for more than two hours. Also, every time I have taken the train, the employees were rude, power-mad pricks.
If they hired competent people and didn’t have the subsidies to fall back on train travel could be a pleasant and profitable means of travel.
Internet is available the entire route. Flat screen tv’s are compact and cheap. There’s a lot more room to move around on a train.
So long as they know there is no down side to lousy service and dirty cars, there’s no reason to change.
I have taken Amtrak from Chicago to the west coast twice in the last two or three years, and enjoyed both trips. We upgraded to the sleeper cars both times, and these tickets are twice as much as flying coach for the same trip. Further, the trains were relatively full, and all of the sleeper cars were at capacity.
So why is Amtrak losing money? Even the coach seats one way cost as much or more than round trip airfare. But despite the higher prices, the trains are generally pretty full.
I’ve done the AMTRAK coast to coast runs a few times in the sleeper cars. It great. The staf are polite and fun, the food was excellant and the scenery breathtaking (Painted Desert, The Rockies, the prairies just incredible) and if you want conversation go to the snack car grab a beer and sit in on a euchre game with strangers. The subsidy on the sleeper runs is pretty huge though so if Trump is thinking about dumping it give yourself a treat and take a trip now.
Totally agree with scr_north! I’ve loved many trips on Amtrak, dozens of time Chicago New York, as well as trips to Seattle, Memphis, D.C., Minneapolis, etc. It’s a situation of “the journey is the reward”. As a conservative, I’m appalled at the subsidy. Much of the delay are because Amtrak is given secondary treatment by the freight lines whose routes they use. (They’re supposed to get priority, but that’s a long story.) The onboard staff is generally bored, unenthused, and not typically welcoming, though there is a minority who are big exceptions. I’d love to see one or multiple private operators take it over and try to improve service.
In any case, as scr_north says, give it a try NOW.
Don’t they have TSA nazi also on them? Phuck that! Privatize or
defund it.