AMTRAK TO THE RESCUE - All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide - page 29

of the company's better trains, Amtrak continues to call it the
Southwest Chief.
Too Many Trains, Not Enough Dollars
Despite these very serious concerns, Amtrak's biggest problem
continued to be a financial one. Within months, the company's
deficit had begun to mount alarmingly. For one thing, start-up
costs had been huge. For another, Amtrak's route system was
highly political from the get-go, with influential members of
Congress insisting on having trains in their districts whether or
not there was any serious demand for the service. Early in its
existence, Amtrak began service between Washington, D.C., and
Parkersburg, West Virginia, at the behest of Harley O. Staggers,
a powerful and influential Democratic congressman from, of
course, West Virginia. In its first several years of operation, the
Amtrak system had actually increased from some 23,000 miles to
more than 27,000 miles despite mounting deficits.
About the only thing holding steady during Amtrak's early
turbulent years was the public's support for rail. That support
was reflected in opinion polls, which, as we all know, are avidly
read by the politicians. So while Congress remained committed
to the passenger train, it nevertheless recognized that too much
was being demanded of the company. A service cut would be
necessary. After months of hand-wringing—no one in Congress
wanted his or her train eliminated—the Amtrak system was
reduced by about 14 percent, which, ironically, left the company
at just about the size it was on its very first day.
After several years of operations to provide some kind of
track record, Congress at last began to evaluate Amtrak in a more
realistic light. Clearly, the notion that Amtrak could operate at
a profit had not been realistic—not as long as every other man-
ner of public transportation, from airplanes to sidewalks, was