[Logophile]

Train ridership has steadily increased between Milwaukee and Chicago, as it has for trains in California, such as a popular run between Sacramento and the Bay Area. In those cases, the states are paying about half the operating costs, with fares covering the rest. . . . The Ohio Rail Development Commission, which has studied and refined the Ohio plan, believes fares could pay 100 percent of the operating cost in Ohio. That could mean around $50 each way from Cleveland to Columbus. . . . To build the $3.5 billion system, largely by upgrading existing track, Ohio needs federal help. No state money is budgeted for construction.

I have always loved traveling by train. That is, until my last trip on Amtrak. Never have I experienced such miserable service. That convinced me that the government should not be in the transportation business. (Or any other kind of business, for that matter.)

It bothers me that even on the most popular routes, tax money still pays half the operating costs. The Ohio Rail Development Commission may say they believe that fares can pay all of the costs, but I doubt that their calculations will stand up to scrutiny.

As for construction costs, not even the Ohio Rail Development Commission is proposing that they be paid out of fares. Instead, Ohio is looking to the Federal Government—which is another way of saying, they are looking to soak the taxpayers again.

If passenger rail were economical, it should not need such massive subsidies.

[avile]

the govt subsidies the airline industry with airports and the air traffic control.
it subsidizes autos with roads and bridges.
perhaps the feds should control the rails and let private companies use the lines.