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Government Rail
By Kate Burch

It will be months, most likely, before we know the cause of the deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia.  It does not have the markings of a terrorist attack, and the reports of projectiles possibly hitting the wrecked train, and at least one other, do not seem to be panning out.   The engineer, who I hear was well-liked, a real “train guy,” may have been inexplicably deranged or temporarily dysfunctional.  Time will tell.

What I hope will happen as a result of this terrible event is that light will again be cast on the inherent wastefulness and injustice of government-run and taxpayer-funded transportation systems. 

Amtrak has been around since 1971, and it has never been out of the red.  The system’s accumulated costs to taxpayers are well north of $50 billion, and it spends about $1.70 for every dollar it receives in revenue.   Food service alone was responsible for losses of $72 million in 2013.   The burger that a rider buys for about $10 costs Amtrak more than $16 to produce and serve.  Free meals and wine-and-cheese parties for special customers and various freebies for employees and their kin pile up costs.  

Two-thirds of Amtrak’s customers live in the ten largest metro areas, and 83% of the trips are 400 miles or less.  Despite heavy taxpayer subsidies, passengers must pay $54 to $136 per ticket to take the Amtrak train from New York to Philadelphia.  Compare this to the $15 to $20 charged by private commuter lines for trips of similar distance.  And then there are the routes outside of the northeast corridor, such as the Chicago-to-San Francisco Zephyr and others, that are subsidized by the taxpayers at a rate of $150 or more per passenger per trip. 

Amtrak, the plaything of the statists and of the elitists who want to take a romantic train ride cross-country, is clearly a loser.  It also steals money from the taxpayers and takes unfair advantage, via protectionist legislation, of other providers of transportation.  Private carriers do not need to demonstrate that they can do the job better and cheaper; they already have shown that.   Our new elites, including public unions, media people, and the political class, will fight to the death to keep Amtrak as it is, hiding the real costs with dubious statistics.  The taxpayers deserve better.


 
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