Nobody is expecting Amtrak to turn a real profit. Even when Amtrak breaks even in operating costs, Congress still pays all capital costs. Amtrak got a $1.8 billion subsidy in 2018.
The real issue is how much we’re paying in subsidies compared to how much we’re paying in subsidies for other forms of transportation, and perhaps what other people are paying in subsidies for the same kinds of transport.
Highways get about $75 billion in subsidies (what’s not covered by gas tax). A lot more than Amtrak for sure. But highways carried over 3 trillion passenger miles last year. Amtrak was just 6.3 billion. We spent 50x as much on highways as Amtrak, but got 500x as much mileage out of those highways.
(You can throw in pollution externalities, etc., but even if you use current carbon recapture methods to suck out CO2 from driving, and ignore the fact that Amtrak’s mainly east coast operations are not powered by renewables, driving still comes out ahead.)
The real issue is how much we’re paying in subsidies compared to how much we’re paying in subsidies for other forms of transportation, and perhaps what other people are paying in subsidies for the same kinds of transport.
Highways get about $75 billion in subsidies (what’s not covered by gas tax). A lot more than Amtrak for sure. But highways carried over 3 trillion passenger miles last year. Amtrak was just 6.3 billion. We spent 50x as much on highways as Amtrak, but got 500x as much mileage out of those highways.
(You can throw in pollution externalities, etc., but even if you use current carbon recapture methods to suck out CO2 from driving, and ignore the fact that Amtrak’s mainly east coast operations are not powered by renewables, driving still comes out ahead.)