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Best Hope. To help cut Amtrak's deficit, Lewis imposed a 10% fare increase last year on Florida runs that have been gaining passengers, and he plans another 20% boost this summer on some long-distance trains west of Chicago. Yet chopping unprofitable routes —the easiest way for Amtrak to round the bend financially—is severely unpopular with local politicians. Nor is it particularly consistent with a growing national concern over energy consumption; an Amtrak study indicates that trains are roughly twelve times more efficient as passenger carriers than automobiles. Besides, the nation's passenger grid already has been pared to half its pre-Amtrak size, and cities as large as Cleveland are now without passenger service of any kind.
Amtrak's best hope is probably that the Government will underwrite its deficits until passenger traffic grows enough to meet operating costs, and until the line can replace its aged rolling stock. Beyond that, Amtrak executives can only hope that the fuel shortage will pinch harder outside the Northeast.