We as taxpayers should offer a nationwide long distance Amtrak service which is coach only with minimun food service. Where private enterprise can pay $2.00 per mile to run their own equipment they can add express service, sleepers, auto carriers, road railers, refrigerator cars etc. Congress seems politically OK with coach service. What Amtrak has to offer private enterprise is a nationwide network, certain legal protection and the right to travel at higher speeds than conventional freight service. Providing some sort of federally backed loan guarantee would protect private enterprise if the route is just dropped.
I still favor government subsidizing long distance service out of fairness to those who rely on its existance but geographically have no use themselves for the corridor services that the government must subsidize to allow cities' economies to function. Also the basic route map as it exists is needed for handicapped and elderly access to the country, internal and external tourism, and standby for alternate transportation when air and auto won't work. The cutback you are suggesting would reduce patronate to the extent that the subsidy would probalby be even greater and the number of people served far less.
At the same time I am all for reducing dining car losses by using the Acela food service model for long distance dining car service. I am all for introducing a slumbercoach type service intemediate between existing 1st class sleeper and coach, and then raising 1st class to make it more profitable, with the slumbercoach equipment having load factors considerably higher than 1st class equipment. All to bringing the long distance service closer to paying for itself.
Dave Klepper:
Looking at the issue pragmatically, I think your proposal makes a lot of sense, with the added point of tweeking the sleepers even more towards the Slumbercoach concept. The goal for all services (including corridors) should be subsidized infrastructures and equipment, with breakeven or slightly better for operating expenses on established routes to aid the newer ones.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
The incremental cost of hauling an extra car is only about $0.55/mile or so. I get your point about returning something to the train overhead, but if the car is regularly scheduled to be added perhaps the price point might be bit less than $2.00/mile.
I have a long distance, commuter on each end strung with an overnight run between (Sunset East) route proposal where the infrastructure would indeed be the only item subsidized, but with the recognition that one of the items that gets rolled into Amtrak's operations numbers is really a capital lease of the host railroad's... infrastructure.
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