Can Amtrak Ever Make Money?

The Freakonomics blog recently invited me and a few other people to share some thoughts on Amtrak – the money-losing, somewhat underutilized national passenger rail system. The question Freakonomics posed is simple: Can Amtrak ever be profitable? Answering it, though, is much more complex.

As the editors note, Amtrak set ridership records in 2011, but still ends up losing about $1 billion annually. Amtrak’s situation was interpreted in the five very different responses as everything from a sign of little concern to outright proof that the service needs to be dramatically changed. I’m posting some excerpts from each of the responders, but I’d recommend reading through all of it to get a flavor for the troubles facing the system and possible solutions to consider.