[Doctor Stochastic]

If The People wanted Amtrak, they could patronize it. The Free Market (disliked so much by Socialists and Conservatives alike) does generally reflect the public's desires. (Not necessarily the public's needs, or best interests, just it's desires.) Lack of profitability (generally) means that people want something else more than a passenger train.

[Publius]

Interesting argument, but as Warren Buffett said, "The airline business, from the time of Wilbur and Orville Wright through 1991, made zero money net." In other words, it was not profitable in the long run. Yet people take planes every day, and the government subsidizes the airlines through a variety of methods.

The author is simply asking for a level playing field.

[Alberta's Child]

I generally despise government subsidies, but when you compare Amtrak to the nation's interstate highways you find that the railroad generates a far better return on each dollar spent than the highways do (about $0.70 for the rails, compared to $0.30 for the highways, if I remember correctly). It's time we started looking at things on a level playing field when we decide how operating expenses for these things are to be paid.

[be131]

There is no free market in transport when the government builds highways.