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What would it take for Amtrak to go private?

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<p>[quote user="schlimm"]</p> <p> </p> <div class="quote-header"> </div> <blockquote class="quote"> <div class="quote-user">Sam1</div> <div class="quote-content">The Great Southern Rail (GSR) operates three of the country's long distance trains: Indian Pacific, The Ghan, and The Overland.  The federal government covers the losses and ensures that the company gets a return for its shareholders.</div> </blockquote> <div class="quote-footer"> </div> <p> </p> <p><span style="color:#252525;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:21px;line-height:33.5999984741211px;">While the former two services are profitable, the operation of </span><em style="color:#252525;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:21px;line-height:33.5999984741211px;">The Overland</em><span style="color:#252525;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:21px;line-height:33.5999984741211px;"> is subsidised by the Victorian</span><span style="color:#252525;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:21px;line-height:33.5999984741211px;"> and S. Australian</span><span style="color:#252525;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:21px;line-height:33.5999984741211px;"> governments.</span>[/quote]</p> <p>You are quoting a Wikipedia article I presume.  Specifically, there is a link to a letter written in 2001 regarding the profitability of the service. The letter was retrieved in 2012.  Unfortunately, the link is not operative, so it is impossible to read the letter.  Moreover, to say that it is dated would be a bit of an understatement. </p> <p>I downloaded the Serco Asia Pacific Annual Report for 2013. Unfortunately, the financial information for the segment that operates the three aforementioned trains is not broken out in sufficient detail to determine if the Indian Pacific and Ghan are profitable.  Without access to that information, it is impossible to know how well the trains are performing financially.</p> <p>It has been a while since I lived in Australia.  When I was there the losses on the three services were underwritten by the federal government. But the Indian Pacific ran two or three days a week, and the Ghan only went as far as Alice Springs.  Permitting GSR to cut back the frequency of the Indian Pacific and Ghan may very well have removed the need for the federal subsidies and allowed Serco Pacific to turn a modest profit on them. If I remember correctly, as you point out, Victoria and South Australia took over some of the burden before I left.</p> <p>My key point, however, is that a private operator might be a better alternative than Amtrak for the long distance trains in America, and Australia has or had a model that might work here. </p>
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