This assumes certain Federal officials do NOT succeed in their repeated attempts to completely cut off ALL funding for Amtrak...

I have almost 30 years with Amtrak.Do you know what it`s like to worry each and every year if your job was going to fold? When the Dems are in power,it`s a little easier.When the Repubs are in power,it`s a scary ride.We are in our 6th year without a raise.That`s right 6 YEARS. And do you know what`s worse is,this is the second time we`ve gone this long without a raise.At one time we were asked to defer 12% of our raises to help keep the company going,we voted and went along with it,hopeing to keep our jobs.A few years later when we asked for some of our money back we were told"Defered?You didn`t defer anything,you gave it up"We never got a cent back.When we settle a contract,we don`t get retro active pay at all.We are the lowest paid railroad workers in the country.A Septa trackman(laborer) makes more than our foreman,about 22$ an hour.

The problem with Amtrak is that it is forced to provide service across the country where there is not enough of a concentrated population to be profitable.

True indeed. But the cross country trains with the romantic names of a by-gone era (Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight) do serve small communities with no air, interstate and now no Greyhound service. They are also the "prestige" trains (much like having Dylan on Columbia/CBS- he doesn't sell very many of each record) that allow families to "see the country" and possibly build continued support for NATIONAL train service (I should know-I've ridden cross-country many times).
The key issue is whether we want a unified, NATIONAL service, and are willing to pay to make it work, or whether we want a de-centralized, state or regional system, which is what we are halfway to having already, with many states subsidizing their Amtrak service, while pushing for better, increased services.
All Aboard...Next stop, Paoli...

I think region wide initiatives would be nice if the federal government would help pay for them via the transportation bill and we could actually get funding for high speed rail throughout the north east and mid-atlantic region. Having a national carrier seems a little crazy for a country our size with the wide expanses of non-populated territory out west. Sorry, but I don't consider nostalgia a viable arguement for continuing a fiscally disasterous operation.