I have to disagree violently with "am." The only reason the freight railroads run Amtrak service is because they cannot refuse. When they joined Amtrak, the agreed to run service. If Amtrak went away tomorrow, the freight railroads could drop all Amtrak service, and no one could compel them to run it.

Yes, commute rail agencies who own their own track, could continue IF they could afford to continue. But for you and me, taking Coaster and then Metrolink to get from San Diego to Oxnard would be pretty inefficient, as each has a different "mission." And pity the fool who'd really like to get to San Luis Obispo or San Francisco!

The States who help Amtrak as "am" describes do so with major funding from Amtrak. Even weathly states could not afford to double their costs.

If you value Amtrak, remember that $1 billion a day for defense is not enough to these guys, but $1 billion a year for Amtrak is too much. The defense department's annual spending package would fund Amtrak for over three centuries. Think about it.