Thats no excuse

[protege]

It probably doesn't help that the only remaining major US rail carrier, AMTRAK, has been hemmorhaging money for decades (in plain English: it's been losing money hand over fist since before most of us were born) -- basically, once flight caught on, our country's love affair with trains died a horrible stinking death.

Even before Amtrak, passenger trains were losing money. With motor air air carrier eating into the segment, railroads wanted out of the passenger business by the 1950s, but were prohibited from doing so, even though they were suffering losses. To counter this, many lines cut back on maintenance--ever wonder why some photos (Penn Central comes to mind) show battered equipment? Speaking of PC, before Amtrak was formed in '71, they had about half of the intercity trains, as well as commuter service. Like many lines, even those with a proud passenger train heritage, PC desperately wanted out.

Amtrak itself really isn't a stand-alone railroad. Sure, they own their locomotives, equipment, and buildings, but outside of the Northeast Corridor (and a couple of lines other places) does not own any track. They are a *tenant* running trains on freight railroads...which in some cases do not want the money-making freights held up! They are dependent on subsidies to maintain the equipment that keeps the trains running.

Also, Amtrak isn't the only method of travel that gets subsidies--the airlines are also *heavily* subsidized as well. They get cash to maintain their infrastructure...but the rail lines have to build and maintain everything on their own.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I'd really like to take Amtrak's AutoTrain from Sanford, FL (just north of Orlando) to the VA/DC area. It's a little spendy, but it might be a lot of fun just to relax on the train, and then we'd have our car with us when we got up that way.