Depreciation and major repairs for the Northeast Corridor are flatly and obviously not counted as an operating expense, hence the constant need for capital grants for this work. If it was counted, the NE corridor wouldn't even be close to breaking even.

But neither is your car, if you actually counted even half the true costs of owning and operating an automobile. Even the IRS won't even question a deduction of 58 cents per mile for business travel - just put it down and claim it. Now you gotta know, that if the IRS doesn't even question this, the real number is a lot higher. Of course, to deduct the true cost, you would then have to carefully document the higher number, but even that is doable.

Now if you had to pay a fully allocated road toll for each mile that reflects the true costs for that particular mile of road. . . .

No form of transportation has ever actually paid its own way - not even the post roads of 1789 - not ever.

So why start now, with passenger trains?

- Duh! somebody else wants to make some money on some other form (off the public subsidy of course), and has the ear of certain politicians. It's that simple!