McRocket
Gold Member
- Apr 4, 2018
- 5,031
- 707
- 275
- Banned
- #1
'America's only real passenger rail company wants to ask Congress for permission to stop losing tens of millions of dollars on long-distance routes, the WSJ reports.
The big picture: "Amtrak says it will need $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion between now and 2030, as part of a total $3.8 billion it expects to spend on replacing the long-distance fleet, including locomotives Amtrak has already ordered."
All 15 of Amtrak's long-distance routes lose money. The bottom 10 lose an average of nearly $10 million a year, each.
Why it matters: A strong passenger rail system would help America reduce greenhouse emissions, ease the stress on our degraded road infrastructure and provide an option for young urbanites to keep avoiding cars.
The bottom line: Amtrak will struggle to make this happen. The Senate blocked a proposal to convert part of one long-distance line into a bus route last year, by a vote of 95 to 4, the Journal notes.'
Amtrak wants more than $2 billion from Congress to replace its long-distance fleet
No, no, no...get rid of Amtrak.
When will people learn that government NEVER does almost anything properly and without MASSIVE amounts of waste.
If people want high-speed rail in America...it is simple:
- stop all federal funding of the Interstates. It the states want 'em...let them fund 'em. The government massively subsidizing roads makes it almost impossible for rail to compete.
And you old timers who say the military needs the interstates are wrong. The military moves it's equipment by rail/aircraft...not by road. And they would LOVE a high speed rail network, crisscrossing the country so they could ship their equipment/troops far faster than road/present rail and FAR cheaper than by air.
- sell/dissolve Amtrak. The only part of Amtrak that is successful is their Northeast business corridor. This route helps the poor/lower middle classes little and the private sector could EASILY do it at a profit.
Get the federal government OUT of the public transportation business.
The big picture: "Amtrak says it will need $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion between now and 2030, as part of a total $3.8 billion it expects to spend on replacing the long-distance fleet, including locomotives Amtrak has already ordered."
All 15 of Amtrak's long-distance routes lose money. The bottom 10 lose an average of nearly $10 million a year, each.
- The Northeast Corridor — from Boston to D.C. — is the only Amtrak route to run a surplus, Bloomberg notes.
- Amtrak wants to establish others by investing more heavily in city-to-city routes where a reasonable person might opt for a train over a plane — the WSJ lists examples like Charlotte to Atlanta and Cleveland to Cincinnati.
- This means more frequent trains outfitted to move lots of people, instead of infrequent trains with sleeper cars utilized by hobbyists.
Why it matters: A strong passenger rail system would help America reduce greenhouse emissions, ease the stress on our degraded road infrastructure and provide an option for young urbanites to keep avoiding cars.
The bottom line: Amtrak will struggle to make this happen. The Senate blocked a proposal to convert part of one long-distance line into a bus route last year, by a vote of 95 to 4, the Journal notes.'
Amtrak wants more than $2 billion from Congress to replace its long-distance fleet
No, no, no...get rid of Amtrak.
When will people learn that government NEVER does almost anything properly and without MASSIVE amounts of waste.
If people want high-speed rail in America...it is simple:
- stop all federal funding of the Interstates. It the states want 'em...let them fund 'em. The government massively subsidizing roads makes it almost impossible for rail to compete.
And you old timers who say the military needs the interstates are wrong. The military moves it's equipment by rail/aircraft...not by road. And they would LOVE a high speed rail network, crisscrossing the country so they could ship their equipment/troops far faster than road/present rail and FAR cheaper than by air.
- sell/dissolve Amtrak. The only part of Amtrak that is successful is their Northeast business corridor. This route helps the poor/lower middle classes little and the private sector could EASILY do it at a profit.
Get the federal government OUT of the public transportation business.
