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Joe Boardman at the Midwest HSR Association

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[quote user="John WR"] [quote user="Sam1"]Posters to these forums who are knowledgeable about the origins of Amtrak have argued that it is unclear whether Amtrak had or has a mandate to run long distance trains.[/quote] Joe Boardman was appointed President of Amtrak by George W. Bush.  He does not have a history with the corporation that goes back to the 1970's.  And he had not commented on the Pioneer or National Limited, at least not as far as I know.   But I think it is clear that he believes our long distance trains will continue to not cover their costs.  He also believes that they are important to the country and to the areas they serve.  He as also pointed out that intercity bus companies have contracted their service.  So at some point is it valid for government to provide a service for people that will never be taken up by the private sector as it is unprofitable because there is a social need for that service?  In this discussion my point (and my only point) has been that Joe Boardman believes that a social contract exists between Congress and the American people for Amtrak to continue to operate its long distance passenger rail service but he does not propose extending it.   In the past we have sometimes disagreed because I believe there have been unconsidered subsidies while you question my belief.  Here, however, you and I agree long distance passenger service is not profitable and there is no reason to believe it will be.   Rather the issue here is whether it is valid for government to provide service where there is a social need when that service will never be profitable. [/quote] The government does not have a social obligation to run a passenger rail operation. Boardman's assertion that Amtrak has a social obligation to provide passenger train service to a few rural communities, whilst leaving out the overwhelming majority of rural communities that it does not serve defies any form of logic that I know.
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