Is Amtrak finally going to go under? The Feds want to pull Amtrak's subsidies. Give this strategy document that covers 6 "myths" about Amtrak.

It seems to me that unless the big cities start really developing some extensive subway systems (ala NYC, Seoul, etc.) rail is not going to work. I remember taking a train ride upt o Washington ... but then without a car, high cab fares, and a spread out city ... I had to get a car. It makes going by rail pretty pointless.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about rail - when I was in Korea, it was so convenient to travel by rail (fast and cheap), but in a country like the US, where everything is so spread out, and we have a "me-car" mentality ... can it really succeed?

One of the points in the Amtrak strategy document is that Amtrak is not geared to be a financial success (unlike the USPS, which started off as a government entity and eventually spun out to a success as a semi-private company). Amtrak requires subsidies in the same way our highways require federal tax dollars to be maintained. Deep in my heart, I do want to see Amtrak succeed. I've had some very good experiences with Amtrak ... if I ever needed to go up to NYC (just in Manhattan), I would definitely take Amtrak over an airline.