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As a long-time Amtrak rider...this isn't by any means the first scare they've had regarding funding/shutting down service. There are only a few areas in the country that are really profitable for Amtrak: the NE corridor, the PacNW corridor, and California. What hurts Amtrak are the longer runs like the Empire Builder (Seattle-Chicago). The train, unlike an airline, will run if it's half-full...people expect it to be there. That's not a good business strategy, but it is a good strategy for a public service. So we have to decide WHAT precisely Amtrak is--is it a business or a public service? Seems to me we've decided the airlines are a public service by arranging to bail them out time after time to the tune of billions of dollars. Why not Amtrak?
To me, they deserve it, and dammit, I love my trains.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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