{
  "id": "RL31473",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31473",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101295,
      "date": "2002-06-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:07:50.213941",
      "title": "Amtrak Profitability: An Analysis of Congressional Expectations at Amtrak's Creation",
      "summary": "Most discussions of Amtrak refer to Amtrak's status as a for-profit company, and have noted that\nAmtrak was intended by Congress to be a profit-making enterprise. Despite these references,\nAmtrak is not now a for-profit company; it was originally created as such, but that status was\nchanged by the Amtrak Improvement Act of 1978 ( P.L. 95-421 ); the Conference report noted that\nthe bill removed Amtrak's for-profit status but required that the corporation be \"operated and\nmanaged as\" a for-profit corporation (H.C.R. 95-1478).\n  Amtrak was created by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-518), which was\nimplemented by the Department of Transportation. John Volpe, then-Secretary of Transportation,\nasserted during Amtrak's creation that it could eventually be profitable; on some occasions, he said\nit could achieve profitability after three years.  (1)  However, in these\nstatements he attached two\nconditions to that prediction: that the Federal government provide significant capital funding to\nproduce high-speed trains in short-haul corridors where profitability was possible, as well as\nproviding other improvements in service; and that the size of the passenger network would be cut\nback to the point that the profits from the successful corridors would be sufficient to subsidize the\nremaining routes.\n  Intercity passenger rail service was running a deficit before Amtrak was created, and there were\ndoubts expressed in Congress (and elsewhere) that Amtrak would ever be profitable. The Rail\nPassenger Service Act of 1970 created Amtrak as a for-profit corporation, but in Section 101, the\nCongressional Findings and Statement of Purpose, it found \"... that Federal financial assistance as\nwell as investment capital from the private sector of the economy is needed [to provide modern,\nefficient intercity rail passenger service] ...\". In their floor statements about this legislation, several\nMembers of Congress either expressed skepticism that Amtrak would ever be profitable, or echoed\nVolpe's conditions: that Amtrak would have to provide high-speed trains, or cut back its route\nmileage significantly, to achieve profitability. Otherwise, one Member, all Congress would have\naccomplished by creating Amtrak would be to change the name on the annual debt incurred by\nproviding passenger rail service (and make the federal government responsible for it).\n  Amtrak's fastest train in 2002, the Acela, averages 85 mph between Washington, D.C. and New\nYork City, compared to the Metroliner which averaged 80 mph over the same route before Amtrak\nwas created. Amtrak's route mileage in 2000 was 23,000 miles; its route mileage in 1971 was\n23,000 miles. Thus, neither of the two conditions specified by those who initially predicted\nprofitability for Amtrak has been achieved.\n     1.  Volpe: Amtrak will break even in 3 years and be profitable\nthereafter ( Railway Age , February 8, 1971, p.\n12.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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