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Re: Learn from passenger train history
Author: Phoebe Snow's Boyfriend
Date: 12-02-2012 - 18:49
David Smith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Consider this - We've tried it at both extremes.
> We've had private passenger rail that was taxed
> and regulated to the point of being an albatross
> around the necks of the Class I's, and we've had
> this public passenger rail that is grossly
> subsidized and wastefully operated to the point of
> being an albatross around the necks of the
> taxpayers.
>
Prior to the creation of Amtrak, the key regulatory issue involving private sector operation of passenger train services was the requirement to operate the services at all. When the Post Office dropped the mail contracts, the railroads no longer wanted to operate passenger train services. If, in the 1960s, the railroads ever said to the ICC, "well if x or y requirement is dropped, we will continue to operate intercity passenger train service," I would like to see a reference, because nothing I have ever read indicated that this was true.
> There is probably a better way to do this that
> will satisfy both the taxpayers and the passenger
> rail fanatics:
>
> Return passenger rail to the private sector, and
> incentivise it via tax and regulatory relief.
Economic deregulation of the railroads was accomplished by Jimmy Carter and Congress in 1980. What further "regulatory relief" would encourage private sector railroads to re-enter the intercity passenger train business?
Even after Amtrak was created, the private sector continued to operate intercity passenger trains. In some cases they were operated directly by the railroads - Southern Railway, South Shore, Reading, Rock Island and Rio Grande. In other cases, other private companies attempted to run the trains - Rocky Mountain Daylight and Auto Train. They all ceased operations.
Airlines and intercity bus companies have both been deregulated. With a few exceptions, the airline industry continues to lose money and provide lousy service and Greyhound has abandoned much of its network. Megabus is too new to draw any generalizations.
It's absurd to call Amtrak an "albatross" around taxpayers' necks when the direct and indirect costs of highways is so much greater.
Try relying less on libertarian ideology and pay more attention to recent history, transportation economics and operational practicalities.
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Consider this - We've tried it at both extremes.
> We've had private passenger rail that was taxed
> and regulated to the point of being an albatross
> around the necks of the Class I's, and we've had
> this public passenger rail that is grossly
> subsidized and wastefully operated to the point of
> being an albatross around the necks of the
> taxpayers.
>
Prior to the creation of Amtrak, the key regulatory issue involving private sector operation of passenger train services was the requirement to operate the services at all. When the Post Office dropped the mail contracts, the railroads no longer wanted to operate passenger train services. If, in the 1960s, the railroads ever said to the ICC, "well if x or y requirement is dropped, we will continue to operate intercity passenger train service," I would like to see a reference, because nothing I have ever read indicated that this was true.
> There is probably a better way to do this that
> will satisfy both the taxpayers and the passenger
> rail fanatics:
>
> Return passenger rail to the private sector, and
> incentivise it via tax and regulatory relief.
Economic deregulation of the railroads was accomplished by Jimmy Carter and Congress in 1980. What further "regulatory relief" would encourage private sector railroads to re-enter the intercity passenger train business?
Even after Amtrak was created, the private sector continued to operate intercity passenger trains. In some cases they were operated directly by the railroads - Southern Railway, South Shore, Reading, Rock Island and Rio Grande. In other cases, other private companies attempted to run the trains - Rocky Mountain Daylight and Auto Train. They all ceased operations.
Airlines and intercity bus companies have both been deregulated. With a few exceptions, the airline industry continues to lose money and provide lousy service and Greyhound has abandoned much of its network. Megabus is too new to draw any generalizations.
It's absurd to call Amtrak an "albatross" around taxpayers' necks when the direct and indirect costs of highways is so much greater.
Try relying less on libertarian ideology and pay more attention to recent history, transportation economics and operational practicalities.
