this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2024
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How is that possible? Trains are extremely cheap to run.
I would guess because Amtrak isn't being subsidized enough. A lot of government money is spent on building and maintaining roads. If the consumer had to pay for that directly in the form of toll roads instead of through taxes then Amtrak would be much more competitive.
I believe part of it too is that much of the rail infrastructure is owned by companies, and so Amtrak is getting permission from them to use their tracks. Freight trains get priority over Amtrak trains, for example, and I assume Amtrak has to pay for permission to use those rails.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't like 100% of US rails owned by freight companies? And Amtrak must negotiate it's prices for using them with each company whose track they want to use. This drives prices hella high.
Not 100%. Amtrak's FY2022 fact sheet says that 72.6% of miles driven was on tracks owned by other railroads. That doesn't tell us how much rail they own, but they do own some of their own rail.
Not only does it mean higher prices, but worse service because they have to rely on freight companies to maintain their rails properly and preference is given to freight leading to passenger delays.
capitalism
Amtrak is government owned
But indeed it is a special corporation that is not quite private, yet seeks profit. Subsidized by the government, it wouldn't be the first capitalist enterprise to rely heavily on government funding.
The question is how you define capitalist then.
I'd consider it state capitalism. A private for-profit company owns the means of production/capital but that company is government owned.
That being said though, I don't think its fair to blame Amtrak being a private company as the reason Amtrak has high prices. Amtrak is at the mercy of freight rail as Amtrak only owns 3% of the rails they operate on. They pretty much have to pay whatever the freight companies say and freight is given preference over passenger trains. Amtrak has never made a profit since its creation.