End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditional dining car

Re:End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditiona... by tssva on Sunday September 22, 2019 @12:26PM (#21042181)

The American rail experience is dying because of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. Anderson and the management he has brought in are implementing the goals mandated by Congress.

Amtrak may be dying as we have known it but it is not dying. It is transforming into mostly a regional passenger train service focusing on the highly profitable Northeast corridor.

If the public values the traditional American rail service they need to let Congress know this and that they are willing to continue to subsidize it to a large degree. To date they have not.

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Re:End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditiona... by ghaff on Sunday September 22, 2019 @12:35PM (#21042235)

And it at least may be worth mentioning that Amtrak came into being in large part because essentially all its predecessors had been losing money and merging--culminating in the largest bankruptcy in American history up to that point in 1970 (Penn Central).

I have a sometimes hankering at least for the idea (if not the likely reality) of taking a long-distance Amtrak train trip. But I'm not sure I could really justify why middle-class American taxpayers should subsidize my Chicago to Seattle train ride.

Maybe there's a market for private luxury long-haul trains with a "flexible" schedule across routes in the West.

[ Parent | on HN ]