Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="blue streak 1"] This article may have some interesting points ?? <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-31/amtrak-shifts-strategy-from-begging-for-money-to-thinking-big.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-31/amtrak-shifts-strategy-from-begging-for-money-to-thinking-big.html</a> [/quote] The article has some interesting points to be sure.  However, many of the numbers have been cherry picked or stated out of context.  For example, the article mirrors Amtrak's claim that it covers 76 per cent of its operating costs.  This is only true because of the Acela and the Lynchburg trains. The Acela is a premium fare train that covers its operating costs and offsets the operating losses sustained by the NEC regionals and NEC special trains. Moreover, Amtrak does not come close to covering its capital costs, most of which have been incurred in the NEC. Focusing on operating costs without factoring in the capital costs is disingenuous. In addition to the regular budget allocation of $1.4 billion received by Amtrak in FY12, which was similar to the operating grants received in FY10 and FY11, it received approximately $3.3 billion in ARRA monies in FY09 and FY10. Most of these monies were spent on capital projects. As the cost of the projects is amortized over the expected life of the assets, Amtrak's losses are likely to grow unless it can find additional revenues.   Big dreams without a realistic plan to fund them outside of a raid on the U.S. Treasury only flies in the minds of government bureaucrats. If a competitive business organization had big plans to expand continuing operations, without a realistic plan to fund them, it would not get very far.  The best solution for intercity passenger rail in the United States would be to open the routes to competitive bidding. In doing so, however, other than transitional subsidies, all transport subsidies should be eliminated, thereby allowing each mode to dominate where it has a competitive advantage. If the country adopted this approach, passenger rail might be able to survie in relative short, high density markets where the cost of expanding highways and airways is prohibitive.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag