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Comment by mlindner | Hacker News Reader

The solution to fixing problems with Amtrak is to privatize it and shut down the unprofitable long distance lines or require states that want them to pay for them. Amtrak is already profitable in areas of high density if they weren't held back by all the unprofitable lines.

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This take is very wrong, but it does have a kernel of truth. The unprofitable services Amtrak provides are incredibly necessary for rural communities, but having to operate them is a major drain on Amtrak's resources. IMO, Amtrak's lines in extremely low density areas should be separated from Amtrak's portfolio (not shut down but moved to a separate agency) to allow Amtrack to massively expand service in areas where it could do so properly without having to support tons of inherently unprofitable routes. The east coast specifically should have way more and much higher quality trains than it does.

Do you feel the same way about private highways? All infrastructure is subsidized to hopefully benefit the economy. Obviously no private company would want an unprofitable long distance highway. These arguments mostly just show we have different priorities and you would rather drive or fly and i would rather not. And i would rather not wait 2 hours behind the air mail / freight plane when waiting to take off and i'm guessing you would not either.

Should we shut down all the unprofitable highways too?

Yes, we have far too many.

What about unprofitable fire departments?

Do they cause urban heat effect, break apart communities, and make it unsafe to walk places?

By some estimates, a firefighter costs $120,000 in yearly costs while saving over $500,000 in damages a year.

It's a lot harder to make the ROI claim for highways and roads, especially considering increasing road capacity does not decrease congestion -- added capacity tends to increase demand by over 100% of the difference, as little as 5 years later.

The federal highway system funding originated as a method of defense. Unless the military switches to using rail for transport then throwing highway funding into the military budget seems fine to me.

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