By Phillip J. Longman Amtrak should be glorybound these days, considering the alternatives to taking the train. Last year, more than 1 of every 4 airline flights were delayed, canceled, or diverted. The situation is so bad at Newark Airport that Continental Airlines regularly issues Amtrak tickets to stranded passengers.
Gas prices are high, and auto traffic keeps worsening.
Yet Amtrak's finances are so dire it could be out of business in less than two years. Which makes it hard to make a profit just by increasing volume. All other trains on its busy corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., lost money. But this time, the stakes are higher. Amtrak officials say they can do it, by drastically cutting expenses, while growing more revenue from high-speed rail as well as express freight and mail services.