https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/ ... 220-cities"It's ironic that President Trump's first budget proposal undermines the very communities whose economic hardship and sense of isolation from the rest of the country helped propel him into office," said NARP president Jim Mathews.
"These working class communities—many of them located in the Midwest and the South—were tired of being treated like 'flyover country,'" Mathews continued. "But by proposing the elimination of Amtrak's long distance trains, the Trump administration does them one worse, cutting a vital service that connects these small town economies to the rest of the U.S.."
Amtrak does not lose money for the government currently, as it makes 94% from ticket sales. The remaining 6% and more is recovered as income tax on the employees. Those employees would otherwise be unmemployed.
The big empty areas on the map are covered only by bus, Greyhound. However, East to West, train is best. North to South, bus. But the systems are not well integrated.New ridership record and lowest operating loss ever
WASHINGTON – Amtrak today reported exceptionally strong unaudited financial results for the fiscal year which ended on September 30, 2016 (FY 2016), including an all-time unaudited ticket revenue record of $2.14 billion, a $12 million increase over Fiscal Year 2015.
The increased ticket revenue was fueled by a record 31.3 million passengers on America’s Railroad® – nearly 400,000 more than the previous year. This is the sixth consecutive year Amtrak has carried more than 30 million customers.
The company covered 94 percent of its operating costs with ticket sales and other revenues, up from 92 percent the year before – a world-class performance for a passenger carrying railroad.
