eNewsletter for August 6, 2012


Amtrak’s Food Lost Taxpayers $834 Million in 10 Years, Mica Says   Bloomberg – Aug 2, 2012 Amtrak lost $84.5 million selling food and beverages last year and $833.8 million over 10 years, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica said, calling for a “better way” to run those operations. It costs taxpayers $3.40 for each can of soda …        This is why we should never take Amtrak’s Accounting at face value and why it gives ammunition for its critics. The Long Distance Trains are the primary users of food service and are regularly overcharged by Amtrak’s Accounting. Since Amtrak arbitrarily applies charges to trains and services it is impossible to know what is the real cost of something like food service or what it cost to run trains. The problem is Amtrak’s overhead costs and how Amtrak’s Accounting charges those costs to the trains and passenger services. NB

August 6, 2012 Part 1  August 6, 2012 Part 2  August 6, 2012 Part 3

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