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Long distance routes: Which to continue, which to cut?

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"The need for the western LD trains is not to drop them, but to work with the host railroads to improve on-time performance and to raise the travel speed. It may even mean that Amtrak gets its own ROW in places." How do you propose to pay for or continue to pay for the long distance trains that are used by less than one per cent of intercity travelers? It is doubtful that private investors will put up the money.  This is especially true for expansion of or upgrading of the long distance trains.  Moreover, working with the hoist railroads means increasing their cost of hoisting Amtrak's trains. So that leaves the taxpayers.  And they are in hawk up to their ears.  Currently, the national debt is $16.8 trillion.  Add in state and local government debt, and the number is close to $19.8 trillion dollars. This is before unfunded liabilities, which are estimated to be in the neighborhood of $46 trillion. The public debt, which is the one to worry about because the federal government either services it or defaults on it, and if it defaults on it, there would be terrible ramifications, stands at $11.9 trillion.  It is approximately 76 per cent of GDP. The International Monetary Fund cautions countries whose national debt exceeds 60 to 65 per cent of GDP. As per table S-5 of the President's 2014 budget (OMB), the interest on the national debt is projected to be $763 billion in 2023. The projected outlay for defense is $631 billion. The biggies are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, along with defense, but if a country is required to spend more on interest than defense, it has a financial problem. Passenger trains are not major contributors to the national debt.  But they contribute to the problem, along with hundreds of other "just a little bit" for our interests seekers.  Amtrak's advocates say that the amount of federal money required by Amtrak is a rounding error.  Supporters of PBS, NPR, the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as hundreds of other special interests, say the same thing.  First thing you know the little bits or rounding errors add up to some serious money.   I like trains.  I ride them whenever I can.  But if someone wants to expand an existing service or implement new service, it is incumbent on them to layout a realistic plan for funding it.
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