I love trains. If I have to go long distance, that’s my favorite way to travel, and I’ve ridden Amtrak’s Coast Starlight line many times in the past. Although the newer passenger cars are less comfortable and roomy than the old ones, I still prefer them over airplane travel. The problem is, we just can’t afford Amtrak any longer as a nation.

Amtrak is a losing proposition, like all rail.  Although a few isolated lines make some money, the whole of Amtrak loses money, and it has ever since it was founded on May 1st, 1971.  Every single year, Amtrak has lost money, and since 2000, it has lost more than a billion dollars, every year.