Nothing more clearly illustrates the inefficiency of taxpayer-subsidized Amtrak than the fact that the passenger rail service has never broken even in its 40-year existence.
And yet, despite the unpopularity of Amtrak outside of a few well-traveled lines — mainly in the Northeast — it continues year after year to get federal tax dollars. The total is up to $36 billion over the past four decades, and Amtrak may get still more subsidies in the coming fiscal year.
Some lawmakers in Congress are pushing for a $2.2 billion subsidy for Amtrak for 2012.
Amtrak’s defenders say that it will become more popular as the price of the gasoline that fuels our cars continues to rise. But if that’s true, then they should not object to letting Amtrak really compete for customers — without massive taxpayer subsidies.
Considering the ongoing economic crisis and the desperate need to cut wasteful federal spending — and reduce our $14.7 trillion national debt– this would seem to be a good time to end the Amtrak gravy train. Its popular lines should be sold off to the private sector, and the rest should be shut down.
That may not do a lot to reduce huge federal deficits, but it would be a good-faith step toward beginning the process.