How is this for twisting in the wind. Seems that in our bastardized capitalist economic system you can have a “private corporation” that just happens to be chartered and, yes, wholly owned by the government. This private corporation has all the tenets of what it is; a government program. That is, it loses money every year while providing poor service. Only such a “corporation” can say that they will break even for the first time in their history….next summer. But wait! According to Chief Executive Richard Anderson, that will only happen if you don’t count the “significant amounts they spend on maintaining trains, tracks and tunnels.” (WSJ 11/9/19 – “Amtrak Losses Fall as Ridership Hits High”). I can’t wait to see what they put on their income statement.
What does Amtrak do well? They shuttle the elites between New York and Washington DC. You can best believe that they know where their bread and butter come from. As for the rest of the system? Well, I’ll leave to those who have found a way to navigate their website and/or used their service. I’m taking a bus.
Current Day Publius 