Passenger rail subsidies make sense in small parts of the United States: Washington to Boston for sure, and perhaps Southeastern Florida, Chicago to Detroit, and LA to San Diego (sorry for being provincial).
Yet Amtrak continues to run far-flung rail lines that make no sense economically. The losses from these lines undermine Amtrak's ability to take on the projects it really needs--like a new tunnel through Baltimore.
Why does it do it? It's web site gives the answer: it runs through 255 Congressional Districts. Amtrak must always run through at least 218 Congressional Districts, whether it makes any sense or not.
Such is the fundemental problem with nationally owned companies.
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