[RonF]

In discussion here on FR, even those who believe in extremely limited government seem to hold that building and maintaining roads is a proper government function. Support of Amtrack is not too far a stretch from that. And if you are going to call subsidies of Amtrack into question, it seems to me that subsidies for road building used by the trucking and busing industries, and subsidies of airport building (and the airline companies themselves), competitors of Amtrack, also ought to be examined. What would Amtrack's financials look like if they didn't have to build and maintain the railroad tracks and crossings?

[FreedomCalls]

What would Amtrack's financials look like if they didn't have to build and maintain the railroad tracks and crossings?

They don't! For the most part the Amtrak trains all run on lines owned by the freight railroad companies -- indeed the freight trains have priority when there is a schedulding conflict. Amtrak pays a fee to the freight railrods for the use of their tracks.

See here:

Although it operates over 22,000 miles of track in the United States, it owns only about 650 miles of track, primarily in the Northeast corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston. The rest of the track it uses is owned by major freight railroads, including Richmond, Va.-based CSX Corp. and Norfolk, Va.-based Norfolk Southern for Amtrak trains serving Pittsburgh.