Amtrak has been sharply criticized for many things during its brief 10-plus year history. Certainly travelers had much to complain about over most of that decade-late trains, broken-down trains, trains too hot in summer and too cold in winter, dirty trains, unpalatable food, poor schedules, infrequent trains.
As many of these conditions have improved, criticism of the increasing government subsidy to Amtrak has grown louder. There is little question that the deficit, and hence need for government subsidy, far exceeds what the original creators of Amtrak had anticipated.
Important as all of these issues are, they have perhaps masked the deep underlying problems that continue to plague the corporation. To identify these fundamental problems, Amtrak 90 has analyzed the corporation's operations since its inception, investigated U.S. passenger railroading history, and compared Amtrak with operations in other countries. The study groups problems identified into four broad, yet interrelated areas: economic performance, market perception, operational constraints, and planning. The high points of each of these problem areas are outlined in following sections.