Why hasn’t Congress ended Amtrak subsidies? Advocates cite highway subsidies; yet, Amtrak guzzles 39 times more subsidies per passenger-mile. For FY2024, Amtrak touted ridership records on 17 out of 46 routes. Yet, 29 others saw declines, and passenger-miles have dropped 3.4 percent since FY2013.
For political reasons, Amtrak’s environmental benefits webpage is now gone. Some routes are efficient, but Amtrak won’t focus on them since it might cost votes.
Another common exaggeration is that highways and airports are bursting at the seams. For instance, the busiest airline route—New York to Miami—carries 25,263 daily passengers. It’s a notable number, but not indicative of widespread congestion along other routes.
Freight trains thrive without subsidies, so why shouldn’t Amtrak? Amtrak blames delays on freight trains, but often chooses questionable routes. For example, its route from Chicago to Miami takes 17 hours longer than it needs to. …
The only way to stop politicians from playing favorites with routes is to eliminate subsidies. Political control over subsidies means that ending them would also end that control. Other “reforms” are unlikely to succeed, as they would still allow political interference.
Today, travelers often seek scenic and enjoyable train experiences. Brightline Florida—a privately-owned train service—began operating in 2023. Rocky Mountaineer offers amazing train trips without subsidies. If Amtrak can’t figure it out, someone else will.
It’s time for Congress to stop guessing which routes will succeed and cut subsidies to $0. The President should also veto any bill that subsidizes Amtrak. Finally, Congress should repeal the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. This Act wasted $66 billion in capital and operating subsidies for passenger rail.
Once again, Heyak shows his brilliance in regards to the knowledge and economic calculation problems. AMTRAK is a waste of money and resources that could be better used elsewhere. As of this moment, there are passenger railroad companies that are making money by providing the services people actually want and will purchase freely! However, they are not government subsidized passenger railroads, they are private companies that have seen a way to operate efficiently. Why can’t we have a totally private passenger railroad system here? Just get the politicians out of the picture, they just do not know anything about business.