A Stitch in Haste

The more things change...

Amtrak's new president said Thursday that the U.S. should embrace rail travel at a time of growing transportation needs and high oil prices, but he gave no details of his plans for fixing the indebted passenger service.

Speaking publicly for the first time since he began his job Sept. 12, Alexander Kummant said two of his goals were finding the most effective and efficient ways to run long-distance routes and beefing up the infrastructure of the heavily used Northeast Corridor.

But Kummant did not say how he would do those things, to the frustration of some lawmakers.

...the more they stay the same:

Amtrak has debt of more than $3.5 billion and its operating loss for 2005 topped $550 million. It has never made a profit in its 35 years of operation.
...
Under a Senate bill, Amtrak would see its federal subsidy increased by 8 percent to $1.4 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. Amtrak received a $1.3 billion subsidy for the current year.

Of course, the best way of "finding the most effective and efficient ways to run long-distance routes" would be to run trains where there is a demand for trains, and not to run trains where there is no demand for trains. But Amtrak has never -- never -- been about being "effective and efficient." Its locomotive has always been the Politics of the Warm Fuzzy Feeling (with the Politics of Pull for a dining car).

Similarly, "beefing up the infrastructure of the heavily used Northeast Corridor" would be trivial if a market-clearing price were charged for its "heavy use" and if the revenue from it were not diverted to other less-used (i.e., unwanted) lines. Every true businessperson understands this -- too bad Amtrak is not a true business.

As for the subsidies, we have a Republican president and a Republican Congress, so of course the subsidies are going to increase -- All aboard!

The more things change...