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Re: California bullet train still a go
IFF you do not count the capital costs of equipment and track maintanence costs yes. This is true of many transporation systems. AMTRAK plays accounting games to MAKE this "true", as it puts ALL of the equipment and track costs in OTHER budgets, making this "miracle" happen. Were the tracks really free? Did the trains come from Santa Claus? The fares do cover the bare minimum "operating" costs for ONLY this train, yet what maintains the SHARED tracks that it rides on? Do the basic math, including buying the land, building the tracks, buying the trains and operating and maintaining them, then compute the REAL fare required to pay ALL of those costs. Hmm...
Within the very quote you cite, I posted the numbers and the performance report. What more could you possibly want? It's there in black and white. Acela is the profitable wing of Amtrak.
IFF you do not count the capital costs of equipment and track maintanence costs yes. This is true of many transporation systems. AMTRAK plays accounting games to MAKE this "true", as it puts ALL of the equipment and track costs in OTHER budgets, making this "miracle" happen. Were the tracks really free? Did the trains come from Santa Claus? The fares do cover the bare minimum "operating" costs for ONLY this train, yet what maintains the SHARED tracks that it rides on? Do the basic math, including buying the land, building the tracks, buying the trains and operating and maintaining them, then compute the REAL fare required to pay ALL of those costs. Hmm...
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