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[quote user="jclass"] [quote user="Sam1"] I rode the Empire Builder from Milwaukee to Portland in December 2006. [/quote] Sam1, why did you choose to take the EB from Milwaukee to Portland instead of flying from Chicago to Seattle?<IMG alt=Confused src="http://cs.trains.com/trccs/emoticons/icon_smile_perplexed.gif"><IMG alt=Sigh src="http://cs.trains.com/trccs/emoticons/icon_smile_sigh.gif"> [/quote]   For the same reason that I take two or three Amtrak trips a year.  It is there, and I am paying for it irrespective of whether I use it.  I like trains, but I am not blind to the fact that Amtrak's long distance trains generate a small percentage of its revenues while consuming the lion's share of its operating expenses. During FY08 the long distance trains generated 22.49 per cent of Amtrak's revenues whilst accounting for 209 per cent of the operating expenses before interest, depreciation, and other charges.  In other words, they wiped out the $369 million generated by the North East corridor and then some.  They had an average load percentage of 58.9, which means that they operated well below capacity, except for the heavy vacation and holiday periods.  Less than 15 per cent of Amtrak's passengers were carried on the long distance trains.  And less than 4/10s of one per cent of intercity travelers choosing a commercial carrier opted for Amtrak's long distance trains.  The financials associated with the long distance trains are abysmal. I'll continue to ride them as long as they run.  And I will continue to write to my Congressional representatives urging them to stop funding Amtrak's long distance trains.
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