Originally Posted by
rickair7777
They are generally bailed out all day, every day. Few such systems operate in the black. Sure doesn't in my town.
The only such system that's comparable to airlines as national infrastructure is AMTRACK... and those trains use red ink instead of diesel for fuel.
Not that I like competition but I wonder if more elements of the passenger rail network had reasonable service times if it could be more viable. It works in the northeast because the transit times are reasonable.
Hamburg to Munich is about 5 hours by train. New York to Chicago is about 50% farther but that train is 23 hours instead of 8. Of course that's because it's mandated to stop in every town with a population over 50 and probably because the track speed is 35 mph half the time.
For all the whining about airline bailouts, Amtrak has been on the dole since Nixon was president.