> So, with this new, fastest train in the world,
> the French can now break their own records
> for retreat and surrender!

… absolutely true for us as well, more rapidly and more often, avec les femmes quebecoises. *wink*

Amtrak subsidy = 1.5 Billion (Dems want to increase to 1.8)
Amtrak employees = 19,000
Subsidy per employee = $78,947

My personal experience with Amtrak was years ago when I took a trip from Detroit to Chicago for Christmas shopping. DLS’s comment above basically mirrors my ride on the rails of indifference.

Seeing an opportunity (as a capitalist conservative I can’t help it), I located 4 club cars available for lease. The plan was to pay Amtrak to add these cars to the back of their regularly scheduled service and to sell tickets at a large premium based on the level of service.

When I contacted Amtrak to negotiate rates to haul these cars, they were quick to point out it was illegal to compete with them. I tried to explain to them the concept of competition, highlighting the fact I wasn’t planning to lay tracks side-by-side and actually provide riders with an alternative. My venture simply wanted to offer special cars at a high level of service for people willing to pay a high price. They would be free to abuse the masses as they saw fit.

Needless to say, federal law and the union rules forbid any introduction of good service that would, by comparison, shine a bad light on government-run enterprises.

The one saving grace of Amtrak is that it gives us a small glimpse into how HillaryCare would operate.

> > “loss leader� connector routes between regions

> We have them already.

I was referring to thinly-trafficked high-speed rail routes between different regional high-speed systems.

it would be appealing for those of us who like traveling by rail, but we would probably not see “loss leader� connector routes between regions to enable crossing the entire continent by high-speed rail.

We have them already.

Want to go from Chicago to LA? Amtrak will get you there for a reasonable fare of $140.00. But it will take 3 days.

> So yes, train travel is not really compatible in the broad continent of N. America.

Regional travel is the logical goal for any high-speed rail project (or between parts of megastates); it would be appealing for those of us who like traveling by rail, but we would probably not see “loss leader” connector routes between regions to enable crossing the entire continent by high-speed rail.

> Southwest Airlines. Quicker, much cheaper, and a fairly pleasant travel experience.

At least on Southwest, as opposed to Amtrak, the toilets work and aren’t overflowing.

The first poster above makes me recall vividly the train that arrived nearly six hours late, with the dining car we all expected to use more than ever given the delay closed due to stupid union rules. Then, of course, there was no connecting train that we had all paid for, and we sat for hours in a parking lot in a bus instead before being taken onward.

Imagine if we had “Amflight,” a federal airline. Would it or wouldn’t it be worse than Aeroflot?

U.S. rail service is a product of unions and liberal philosophy.

This is a bit absurd.

Taxpayers subsidize Amtrak at a rate of $80,000/year/employee

Cite for this please?

Obviously Amtrak is subsidized. But would you say it’s more subsidized than US airlines?

Has the federal government payed 5 billion dollars into Amtrak in one year along with 10 billion dollars in federally subsidized loans?

I don’t think so. But that’s what the nations airlines got after 9/11. Let’s put that in perspective. You could purchase United, American, Continental, and Delta outright for less than that.

I love train travel in Europe, but I’ve never travelled any distance by train in the US. Why? Southwest Airlines. Quicker, much cheaper, and a fairly pleasant travel experience.

And note, Southwest Airlines received no federal grants or loans after 9/11.

So yes, train travel is not really compatible in the broad continent of N. America.

But it’s not because of some delusion of unions.

Taxpayers subsidize Amtrak at a rate of $80,000/year/employee, while achieving a level of service formerly reserved for rail travelers to Auschwitz. Rejecting the concept of capitalism and market forces, granting lazy, uncaring employees virtual lifetime tenure and operating a business as a “social works� program will inevitably lead to failures like Amtrak.