Regarding Amtrak

This was posted as a comment in a Facebook group I'm part of (Greenway & Futuristic Rail System), and I thought it was worth boosting the signal on it.

Amtrak is failing, and it's not by accident. It's because Amtrak was designed to fail. Amtrak is the 'bad bank' that bankrupt railroads were allowed to offload the passenger service they were (contractually obliged) to provide, in exchange for the land-grants they received during their construction.

The railroad companies have all been losing money for decades now - as they always would have - if they hadn't really been real estate companies and land developers in a wide open, undeveloped frontier nation. The way our original rail structure in this country was funded and built was with gigantic land grants of huge swaths of public lands to the private corporations who built the rails that crisscrossed the country and allowed for its development. They made their money off of building a system to access those lands and then developing and selling the land they were given for free along their right-of-ways.
Just the opposite is true now for anyone wanting to build a high-speed rail network. High-speed trains need much straighter and totally exclusive right-of-ways (no at grade crossings) through densely populated urban and suburban areas with enormous property values. Expecting those companies to be able to afford to BUY and finance those right-of-ways and still be able to be "profitable" is ludicrous. Imagine if GM and Ford had to purchase and finance new right-of-ways for roads in cities across America to continue to sell cars and STILL be profitable! Imagine if we charged airlines similar amounts to purchase the air corridors they fly.
As for Amtrak, they have been at this disadvantage since they were formed. Sure, the government bought and continues to pay for the rolling stock, the engines, and cars, and stations, etc. but they must RENT the tracks they travel on from the freight companies. This puts them at multiple disadvantages. In many areas, the tracks are poorly maintained by the freight companies and kept only in the condition required for FREIGHT travel at much lower speeds than would be optimal for passenger service. Second, the long, lumbering freight trains are given PRIORITY over Amtrak's passenger trains meaning MORE unacceptable delays and speeds. Third, to solve that problem the only way is to purchase at ridiculous market value NEW right-of-ways AGAINST public opposition in many cases, tying them up in court and causing even more delays and costs. It's totally untenable. Finally, Amtrack can NEVER succeed because Amtrak's budget is so severely limited by a Congress who expects it to "make a profit" at the same time the airline, oil, and auto industries are paying those very same decision makers to ensure that Amtrack CAN NOT, WILL NOT EVER make a profit.
Until we as a society decide to factor in the REAL costs of the subsidies we provide now to the status quo industries, carbon emissions, public transportation for the non-rich, and understand the cost benefits and quality of life improvements of having a carbon-free, superfast and widely connecting transportation network nationwide, we will NEVER be able to achieve the successes achieved by most of the other industrialized nations in the world.
Just the opposite is true now for anyone wanting to build a high-speed rail network. High-speed trains need much straighter and totally exclusive right-of-ways (no at grade crossings) through densely populated urban and suburban areas with enormous property values. Expecting those companies to be able to afford to BUY and finance those right-of-ways and still be able to be "profitable" is ludicrous. Imagine if GM and Ford had to purchase and finance new right-of-ways for roads in cities across America to continue to sell cars and STILL be profitable! Imagine if we charged airlines similar amounts to purchase the air corridors they fly.
As for Amtrak, they have been at this disadvantage since they were formed. Sure, the government bought and continues to pay for the rolling stock, the engines, and cars, and stations, etc. but they must RENT the tracks they travel on from the freight companies. This puts them at multiple disadvantages. In many areas, the tracks are poorly maintained by the freight companies and kept only in the condition required for FREIGHT travel at much lower speeds than would be optimal for passenger service. Second, the long, lumbering freight trains are given PRIORITY over Amtrak's passenger trains meaning MORE unacceptable delays and speeds. Third, to solve that problem the only way is to purchase at ridiculous market value NEW right-of-ways AGAINST public opposition in many cases, tying them up in court and causing even more delays and costs. It's totally untenable. Finally, Amtrack can NEVER succeed because Amtrak's budget is so severely limited by a Congress who expects it to "make a profit" at the same time the airline, oil, and auto industries are paying those very same decision makers to ensure that Amtrack CAN NOT, WILL NOT EVER make a profit.
Until we as a society decide to factor in the REAL costs of the subsidies we provide now to the status quo industries, carbon emissions, public transportation for the non-rich, and understand the cost benefits and quality of life improvements of having a carbon-free, superfast and widely connecting transportation network nationwide, we will NEVER be able to achieve the successes achieved by most of the other industrialized nations in the world.

-Chuck Meyers