[Willie Green]

A smarmy demeanor is a poor substitute for knowing what your talking about.

The New York Central fell victim to post-WWII government subsidy of the airline industry and Interstate Highway System.

Your misleading assertion that the service decline is due to government operation is deserving of ridicule.

We no longer live in the 1950s era of cheap, plentiful Oil.
Quite the contrary, $4/gal OPEC profits are subsidized by American military blood that's shed to subdue the jihadists.
We need to do everything we can to reduce our addiction to imported oil. Utilizing energy efficient passenger rail in our more densely populated regions is an obvious step in the right direction.

[dfwgator]

The New York Central fell victim to post-WWII government subsidy of the airline industry and Interstate Highway System.

Trains are not as crucial for national defense as having planes and having an efficient way to transport military supplies in case of war. That was the main factor in subsidizing the airline industry and the Interstate highways over trains.

[Mr. Lucky]

Broad, poorly thought out, socio-political platitudes are, apparently, a perfectly acceptable substitute for a smarmy demeanor.

Private rail service faltered because of the heavy hand of government regulation. When that hand was lifted, private rail freight service flourished because the market demanded it. If there is a market demand for rail passenger service, lifting the dead hand of the government would allow private business to provide that service as well.

The historical fact remains that when there was a market for rail passenger service, private industry not only provided it, but provided it with greater comfort, speed and efficiency than the government does 60 years, and Billions of taxpayer subsidies, later.