By Associated Press
Washington, DC – A new report finds that Amtrak could significantly boost its revenues and cut expenses if more of its trains were on time.
But it would require the cooperation of the freight railroads. In most of the country, they own the tracks that Amtrak trains run on, and many of the delays are due to congestion on the freight lines.
The report by the Transportation Department's inspector says Amtrak's long-distance trains were on time just 42 percent of the time last year.
The authors say an improvement to 85 percent for all Amtrak routes would lead more people to take the train and would reduce the federally subsidized railroad's operating loss by 30 percent, or 137 million dollars.
Amtrak provides passenger rail service to Mobile, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Anniston.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)