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The Hoosier State is hardly representative of the costs associated with the long distance trains.  It has no checked baggage, food service, or premium class seating.  It does not have any premium cars, i.e. diner, lounge, and sleeping cars, all of which are labor intensive.   The avoidable costs associated with the discontinuance of one train are different than the avoidable costs associated with the discontinuance of an entire product line, i.e. all of the long distance trains, which is what I have advocated since I joined these discussions.   I am not concerned about the veracity of Amtrak's accounting methodologies, i.e. avoidable costs, allocation of shared costs, etc.. No one has demonstrated that Amtrak is accounting for its costs or allocating its overheads improperly.  No one that I have challenged, i.e. Fred Frailey, Don Phillips, you, has convinced me that he has access to Amtrak's books. And until you get access to the company's books, including the auditor's work papers, it is pure speculation. People can speculate (believe) all they want. That is all it is. Ernst & Young signed off on Amtrak's 2012 financial statements on December 21, 2012. Following sign-off by the external auditor, the financial statements have to be incorporated into the Annual Report, which takes some time to prepare and publish.  In addition, the Amtrak's IG did not sign-off on the company's internal controls until February 1, 2013.  Attestment to the veracity of the internal controls is required by the American Financial Accounting Standards Board as well as Generally Accepted Auditing Standards.  It is an integral part of the company's financial statements.   It does seem that Amtrak is a bit late making its annual report available, but the September 30, 2013 Monthly Operating Report, which includes the results for FY13, has a set a financial statements.  They are not audited at that point, but over the years I have noted few changes between the September results and the published annual results.
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