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I'll start by making it clear that I am an Amtrak supporter. It is an insult to all of Amtrak's employees and customers that Washington continues to keep Amtrak in a state of perpetual limbo. Washington has never provided Amtrak with more than enough funding to make it a viable alternative to other forms of transport. It is not seldom that Amtrak's survival has come down to the wire been "saved" by a late night session because no president wants Amtrak to die on their watch. Enough with the soapbox. <br /> <br /> As a recent college graduate who makes very little money, I continue to spend any extra dough on rail travel every chance I get. Even in its state of underfunded quasi-survival, Amtrak still provides experiences not attainable aboard any other form of transportation. Even first class airline passengers lack the option to dine at a table. Good luck getting a flight from a nearby town. To the vast majority of Americans, an Amtrak community is closer than an airport that receives real airliners. Even if airliners had big windows, they don't do much good at 20,000 feet. The grand canyon just isn't grand when it looks like a crack on the surface of freshly baked cornbread. <br /> <br /> Amtrak will not die anytime soon. So long as the political climate remains stable and Americans continue to remain apathetic about its future, Amtrak will be kept on financial respirators. The railroads hate Amtrak but support it because it's familiar and predictable. Washington gives Amtrak enough money to stay alive because Washington politicians do not want to have to answer to their consituents about it. According to all the studies performed in the laboratory and on the rails, it is possible to put Americans on trains. Acela Express proves it, Amtrak Cascades proves it, and all the high speed systems in Europe prove it. Apparently, it takes more than proof to convince Washington that investing in Amtrak upgrades nationwide is worth the money.
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