Re: Trump Administration wants to cut service south of Eugene
Author: Sgt. Joe Friday
Date: 08-28-2019 - 08:18
Interesting choice of words: Amtrak trains "lose half a billion dollars" annually. The Starlight "loses" $46 million.
When the private railroads were running their own trains, it could be accurately said that the trains were "losing" money, although how much was always a matter of what formula was used to calculate those losses.
But under Amtrak the trains are a government sponsored operation. So let's use terminology that is more consistent with that:
- Runs a deficit of
- Requires a subsidy of
- Has an annual budget of
There are lots of other things the government is involved in that "lose" money, and provide a questionable public benefit, or none at all. Amtrak does not fall into either category.