Passenger rail is Government subsidized in every single country on Earth. Amtrak, in general, gets far less money than other Passenger systems. The actual money going to Amtrak will not allow for major maintenance on equipment and still maintain the routes and car sets necessary for it's routing. Ticket cost, to meet actual expense would have to be astronomical . Employees are well paid, but most front line employees spend days away from home, work weekends, holidays, night, day, on call 24/7 for an extra board employee. Railroading is one of the only carrier fields where it seems you where hired to be fired. Federal regulations put people out in the field checking you for everything imaginable, any one of which can get you pulled out of service.
Amtrak does waste a lot of money on the upper ends of the management chain, contractors, studies, consultants. A lot of it, Amtrak has no say in. The Govt. appointed board sets the agenda.
I do have some insight into the overall picture, I'm an Amtrak Engineer by profession. But I do, irregardless, believe that passenger rail needs to be kept going, and no private firm, with any competence, would believe you could do so for gross profit. Hell, fuel alone can break the bank. Some locomotives go 1 million miles before they even see major overhaul.
