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[quote user="dakotafred"]   <blockquote> <div><img src="/TRCCS/Themes/trc/images/icon-quote.gif" /> Sam1:</div> <div>      Amtrak has racked up accumulated losses of $28.5 billion since it began operations.  Assuming that the ratio of the long distance train operating losses to Amtrak’s total losses has remained constant (48 per cent) since Amtrak began operations, the accumulated loss for the long distance trains is approximately $13.8 billion. Had this money been placed in an account earning the average ten-year Treasury note interest rate for 40 years, four months, it would have grown to $78.7 billion by September 2011.  This would have been a nice kitty to enhance existing corridors or start new ones, which is the only place where passenger rail makes sense     </div> </blockquote>   I would never argue with you, Sam1, that the losses don't add up and are even larger than they appear, when you consult interest. My quibble would be: If this money hadn't been spent on Amtrak, where would it have gone? Would it have been saved or invested more shrewdly? Pardon me for doubting it. I rather like that, with Amtrak, we have bought something tangible that people use and that has not only utility but meaning to us as Americans. If we have to start saving nickels and dimes, as we undoubtedly do, there are lots of places to start before Amtrak. [/quote] No one knows where the money would have gone if Amtrak had ditched the long distance trains.  The key question is where would it go over the next 40 years if the long distance trains were discontinued.  Again, no one knows.  But at least the option would exist to use some or all of the savings to fund the Administration's plans to develop more passenger rail corridors or enhance the existing ones. Make no mistake about it.  If the long distance trains were discontinued, I would like to see some of the savings plowed into the planned rail corridor from San Antonio to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The envisioned route would include a stop in Georgetown, TX, which just happens to be where I live.
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