Passenger Trains > Amtrak Releases 5-Year Business Plan

An analysis: https://www.enotrans.org/article/amtrak-releases-full-5-year-business-plan/

Again, what expenses are being allocated to the long distance trains?? In Chicago, do the seven daily long distance trains, plus the Cardinal bear all the expenses of the Chicago operation? (station, yard, commissary, etc.) Do the short distance trains (18) out of Chicago pay what kind of costs?

If all seven long distance trains disappeared, the cost of Chicago operations would decline only slightly, with a few less employees in the station; a few less car cleaners, maintenance personnel, locomotive repairman, etc. Commissary would likely be significantly less. In other words, all in all, ditching the long distance trains would put huge costs on the remaining short distance trains.

MEKoch Wrote:
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> Again, what expenses are being allocated to the
> long distance trains?? In Chicago, do the seven
> daily long distance trains, plus the Cardinal bear
> all the expenses of the Chicago operation?
> (station, yard, commissary, etc.) Do the short
> distance trains (18) out of Chicago pay what kind
> of costs?
>
> If all seven long distance trains disappeared, the
> cost of Chicago operations would decline only
> slightly, with a few less employees in the
> station; a few less car cleaners, maintenance
> personnel, locomotive repairman, etc. Commissary
> would likely be significantly less. In other
> words, all in all, ditching the long distance
> trains would put huge costs on the remaining short
> distance trains.


True, but that's what the Republicans don't want the general public to know!

Amtrak has a lot of fixed costs, which won't go away if a train or two vanish. It also has a substantial corporate overhead, etc.

It also has a nearly impossible to understand system for allocating costs.

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