Amtrak Subsidies A Train Wreck aka Financial Sinkhole

WSJ blasted “Amtrak’s $66 Billion Ticket” that’s buried in the proposed “infrastructure” package & it reminds one of the movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” in which a train poops out in the middle of a stalkless corn field on its way to a utopian burb outside war torn Chicago. Concluded the editors: “The government can’t run a railroad, but it sure can subsidize one … [yet] … nobody should think this freight car of cash will end the government railroad’s problems.”

It’s a sad history lesson, actually. “Congress nationalized passenger rail in 1970, and a half century of experience shows why government should never take over a private business. Congress has dictated Amtrak’s business model – from where and when trains run to whether and when workers may be laid off. [Yet] Amtrak has never recorded a profit, despite heroic efforts by patriotic executives with private experience who have tried to install best business practices amid political obstacles.”

WSJ concedes Amtrak’s “northeast corridor” Acela service has worked for politicians like Joe Biden, if inefficiently, perhaps because there’s not dollar a progressive wants left unspent, even if its on bigger, better trains to run off warping rails into a crumbling bridge between New York and DC. But, spend millions to give it “high speed” capabilities to West Coasters in San Francisco & Sacramento? And, worse, pour $16 billion into Amtrak’s national network? The editors conclude, it would be a “financial sinkhole.” Remember that pooped train stranding passengers somewhere between Iowa & Chicago. That’s where we’ll find another Amtrak train 30 subsidized years from now.

Davd Soul