• @evasive_chimpanzee
    link
    217 hours ago

    It’s quasi-public, which is weird. It is subsidized, but just barely (they have like 95% farebox recovery), so i don’t think it’s even responsible to call it subsidized like road and air travel.

    I bet if there was enforcement of train priority laws, they could even be a revenue generator. Philosophically, I dont think they should be, though.

    • @[email protected]
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      fedilink
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      edit-2
      17 hours ago

      Edit: lmao, at those rates, Amtrak is less publicly subsidized than a lot of fortune 500s

      I’d be cool with Amtrak turning profit as long as the revenue was always re-invested into better train sets, better routes, more frequent service, cheaper tickets, employee pay and benefits, etc etc, and never just routed to rich fucking assholes who already have more than they know what to do with.

      • @evasive_chimpanzee
        link
        117 minutes ago

        If they are re-investing revenue, it’s not profit. I would want them to be able to expand, pay employees better, etc. What I wouldn’t want is for them to make money and just pay dividends to shareholders.