Amtrak

[Herman]

I am all for paying folks a living wage. But, Amtrak is not a real company because it would go broke without big taxpayer subsidies.

The US aint Europe. Folks prefer to fly. Investing billions more in something that is already losing billions does not make any sense.

Amtrak pays workers big salaries despite never turning a profit, relying on taxpayers to cover losses: Report
https://www.theblaze.com/news/amtrak-pays-workers-big-salaries-despite-never-turning-a-profit-relying-on-taxpayers-to-cover-losses-report?utm_source=theblaze-7DayTrendingTest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Blaze%20PM%20Trending%202023-10-04&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%207%20Day%20Engagement

Amtrak pays its employees large salaries despite never having turned a profit since its creation in 1971 and relying on taxpayers to cover its losses, according to Open the Books.

Documents obtained by Open the Books via a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the national railroad company paid its 19,000 workers an average salary of $121,000 for fiscal year 2022.

Amtrak pays its employees large salaries despite never having turned a profit since its creation in 1971 and relying on taxpayers to cover its losses, according to Open the Books.

Documents obtained by Open the Books via a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the national railroad company paid its 19,000 workers an average salary of $121,000 for fiscal year 2022.

"Without significant taxpayer support, Amtrak could not operate," the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure stated. Despite government funding, the railroad company estimates it will lose approximately $1 billion annually. Those losses are "largely covered by the taxpayers," the committee noted.

Open the Books found that Amtrak lost $566 per passenger on its rail route from New Orleans to Los Angeles and $288 per passenger on its route from Los Angeles to Chicago. Amtrak's Washington, D.C., to Boston route was previously earning the company $95 per mile but now costs it $2 per mile, the DCNF reported.

In 2021, the Biden administration pledged to make "the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak."

"The deal invests $66 billion in rail to eliminate the Amtrak maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor, and bring world-class rail service to areas outside the northeast and mid-Atlantic," the White House stated.

[Oliver the Second]

I was heading to San Jose for a Star Trek convention and was going to book my flight when I thought "Hey taking a train might be fun, let's look into that". It broke down like this -

Flying - 1 hour 45 minute flight costing about a hundred bucks.

Amtrak - 18 hour journey with two stopovers costing about the same.

That was a pretty easy choice.

[DKG]

I was heading to San Jose for a Star Trek convention and was going to book my flight when I thought "Hey taking a train might be fun, let's look into that". It broke down like this -

Flying - 1 hour 45 minute flight costing about a hundred bucks.

Amtrak - 18 hour journey with two stopovers costing about the same.

That was a pretty easy choice.

That would explain why Amtrak cannot stand on it's on two feet.