I would be more than happy to back any funding for AmTrak provided they (AmTrak)had a proven record to the good.
They however don't even come close.
To pump more money into something that has such a poor preformance record such as they is only throwing good money after bad.
Lets face it, the railroads were forced to dump passenger service because of who? The air lines, now the air lines are begging for money, and more of it. They who caused the passenger service to go under are soon to go under themselves. At the very least see a huge change.
It appears to me that we have to stay away from quick, rash decisions untill we can decide which way to go on this.
We have turned into a nation of speed, the faster the better, perhaps it's time to just slow down the pace in more ways than one.
Many other nations have been using good, dependable rail service all along. Where the heck did we miss the boat? (or should I say the train)
I know one thing for sure, all that old roadbed that has been turned into trails, bike paths, and what have you will soon perhaps be needed, and we will soon wish that in many cases the track had been preserved, at least some of it.
We need a long term solution, and right now I really don't think anyone knows for sure what that will be.
One nice thing, with the air lines using less fuel, the gas prices are going down! Looks like we need more fuel effecient transportation as long as we are looking into changes.
Perhaps we will, some day, see some good come out of all this bad. Remember, what we do over the next few years won't be for us, it will be for our children and their children.