[riverdawg]

Amtrak covers its operating costs on the densely traveled Northeast corridor. It does not cover the costs of operating the long-distance, cross-country routes. An example of an unprofitable “legacy” route is the old Southern (now Amtrak) Crescent that runs between New Orleans and Washington DC.

[RayChuang88]

There are four long-distance Amtrak routes that still make money for Amtrak, all west of the Mississippi: Coast Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles, Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago, California Zephyr from Emeryville, CA (near Oakland, CA) to Chicago, and Empire Builder from either Seattle or Portland, OR to Chicago. These routes will likely be retained in the long term, because they are popular with Americans and foreign tourists.

[Charles Martel]

An example of an unprofitable “legacy” route is the old Southern (now Amtrak) Crescent that runs between New Orleans and Washington DC.

That particular route is run more like a gigantic public bus service or subway system than a railroad. The train stops at every railroad crossing along the way to let a few people board and pay a fractional fare. They usually ride just a few miles north or south... and then the train stops again to let them off. It is infuriating to passengers who bought full-fare tickets, but Amtrak could care less.