[Amtrak]

[wispfox]

Additional information in the comments for the second link I posted relating to Amtrak.

kightp pointed out that the study was done by a group which is known to be a right-wing think tank with a vested interest in proving that government is always bad and privatization is always good. She also pointed out that it's using data from 1990, before the (private) US airlines went to hell and (private) Greyhound launched its program of eliminating bus routes serving most of the rural US.

edit: and, apparently it's a libertarian think tank, not right-wing. (courtesy of crazypills in the comment linked to above)

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The problem is that ALL transit options in the United States are subsidized. Often in fairly invisible, but significant, ways. So it's truly difficult to even say how much the alternatives cost to provide.

My suspicion is that rail travel is relatively cheap compared to automobile or airline travel. But, while it's probably possible to figure out just how much subsidy air travel gets, it's virtually impossible to figure out what the automobile subsidy is, so my suspicion remains no better than a suspicion.