Can Private Intercity Passenger Rail Make a Comeback?

It's been several decades since the United States has had a private passenger rail service, and a good bit longer since it's had a lucrative one. Today intercity passenger service is handled by Amtrak, and while ridership has been growing for years, Amtrak loses money largely because it has a mandate to run unprofitable lines in remote areas. As a result, fiscal conservatives have recently called for Amtrak to privatize some of its services.

So all eyes turned to Florida last spring when a private company called Florida East Coast Industries announced it would make a go at passenger rail travel. The new service, named All Aboard Florida, plans to connect downtown Miami with Orlando via Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. All Aboard Florida officials say the trip will be made in three hours — taking some three million cars off the crowded interstates of Florida's east coast in the process — and that the line has the potential to expand to Jacksonville and Tampa.