A Bad Track Record

Amtrak's Sunset Limited line, which runs through Mobile, lost $466 per passenger last year, more than any other Amtrak route. The Crescent line, which runs through Birmingham, lost $252 per passenger. Taken together, the two lines lost a total of almost $110 million in the past year.

Over the rail service's lifetime, those kinds of losses have taken a quite toll, with taxpayers footing the bill with federal subsidies totalling approximately $29 billion.

Given this record of persistent mismanagement, President Bush has proposed eliminating Amtrak's federal operating subsidies beginning next year. As former Amtrak official Joseph Vranich says in this NRO article, this is something that should have been done years ago. Real reform will only come when Amtrak is forced to survive on its own. It's time to quit throwing good money after bad.

(Other NRO articles on mismanagement at Amtrak and what to do about it are here, here, and here.)