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Opinion
Oct. 28, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Railroaded, again

Amtrak pulled out of Las Vegas back in 2001 due to budget constraints. But the government-run rail line obviously has no qualms about losing money elsewhere.

On Tuesday, an arm of the Pew Charitable Trusts released a private study which found that taxpayers spent about $32 subsidizing the typical Amtrak customer in 2008 -- and that only three of the line's 44 routes made money that year.

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    • The subsidy amounts to about four times what rail line executives have claimed they soak up from taxpayers.

    The biggest loser? The Los Angeles to New Orleans route -- the Sunset Limited -- which lost a whopping $462 per passenger. Even many of the popular northeast services couldn't turn a profit. For example, the Northeast Regional route lost about $5 per rider.

    Despite these numbers -- and despite the fact that virtually all mass transit rail projects bleed taxpayer cash and fall far short of ridership projections -- the Obama administration and Congress larded up the stimulus bill earlier this year with about $8 billion in rail subsidies.

    Perhaps a more thorough examination of failing Amtrak routes would be in order before the nation's struggling taxpayers are forced to lay down on the tracks once again and be steamrolled by the mass transit lobby and their many friends in Congress.

    But rail aficionados continue to defend the necessity of money-losing enterprises.

    "Let's not hold rail up and say it needs to make money when highways don't make money, transit doesn't make money and a lot of small airports don't make money and they all get subsidies," said Stephen Van Beek, president of the Eno Transportation Foundation, a think tank.

    Fair enough. But rail is certainly a good place for the budget hawks to start.

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    jkjos wrote on October 28, 2009 07:22 PM: How much does it cost the tax payer for each plane ride?


    Wow wrote on October 28, 2009 06:17 PM: We need more unions.


    grumpyewo wrote on October 28, 2009 01:42 PM: Was Amtrak's departure influenced by McCarren's incessant desire to become the world's busiest airport in any way? We may never know.


    br wrote on October 28, 2009 12:50 PM: I can hardly wait for the exciting days I can spend riding the fast train from Primm to Victorville...back and forth...back and forth...

    How can I ever thank Harry? Oh, I know. I can vote for his retirement so he can ride the rails with me.


    Jon H. wrote on October 28, 2009 11:23 AM: hecubus23 wrote:

    “It would bankrupt this country to repair all the old rail within it.”

    The cost per mile for installing & maintaining rail is far less than installing & maintaining our highways. The costs associated with moving commerce on rail, cross country, are far below the costs associated with truck. The cost associated with the maintenance of rail, per ton of commerce is far less that our highway systems.

    The biggest problem with rail, is how the Government regulates the industry.


    primm stage coach wrote on October 28, 2009 11:18 AM:
    since primm sometimes has really good concerts to see. it would be nice to ride a train out and catch and show and have a few drinks, and take the train back to vegas.versus the interstate 15 down to half a lane cone nightmare.


    Sam wrote on October 28, 2009 10:44 AM: Tax and spend. Is this anything new?
    The greenies will do ANYTHING to get us out of our evil cars. Even if it means losing taxpayer money big time.
    Trains = good
    Cars = bad

    Just be glad that the monorail is privately funded and not taxpayer funded!


    hecubus23 wrote on October 28, 2009 09:14 AM: It would bankrupt this country to repair all the old rail within it. Even with Santa Obama giving all the little companies billions of taxpayer "bailout" money, the rail industry sits and waits for large scale accidents on rail that in some places is at least 40-50 years old.


    Ken wrote on October 28, 2009 08:55 AM: Reactionary -- I read on the daily kos that the winds are from secret research projects being conducted by Haliburton; under the direction of Darth Cheney.


    Reactionary boy wrote on October 28, 2009 08:33 AM: My patio furniture fell in the pool overnight. There's got to be a way to connect the Bush/Cheney militocracy to the strong winds in the valley. Gimme a minute.


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