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$11 billion later, high speed rail in US drags along

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[quote user="schlimm"] I doubt if it is possible to run a passenger service at a profit, if all infrastructure costs are included, by rail, in the air or with buses. [/quote] I would be happy if intercity passenger rail broke even. If  Amtrak could dump the long distance trains, and fob off the subsidies associated with the State Supported and Other Short Distance Trains to the states, which it is doing, it would be able to generate an operating profit.  If it could keep its capital expenditures at below the current depreciation expense, which means capital improvements could not exceed current depreciation, it probably could reach a break even point - cover all of its costs - in time. This is basically what the Japanese and French have done with the two high speed lines that cover all of their costs.    If an airline or intercity bus company does not cover all of its expenses and generate a return for the shareholders, it goes out of business. The business graveyard is full of failed bus companies and airlines.  One can argue that buses, airlines, and cruise lines - I am throwing cruise lines in since I have recently become hooked on cruising - don't pay their fair share of the common infrastructure that they use. It is a difficult argument to prove.    The nation's large airports, as an example, are economic engines that generate millions of dollars of tax revenues, i.e. terminal vendors, parking concessionaires, taxi franchisees, etc. They flow to the national, state, and local treasures, and they probably cover most if not all of the monies that flow from the general  fund to the airports.
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