More cars for UK trains, thanks to Her Majesty
Britain's trains are running fuller than ever. Standee conditions are common on many commuter services. So the government has announced plans to buy up to 1,000 rail cars and lease them to the train operating companies.
Let's repeat: The government places the order and pays for the cars up front. Then leases them to the operators.
Literally from day one--when it took over a rag-tag fleet of legacy rail cars--Amtrak has been undercapitalized. Congress's habit of stringing the company along year to year hampers any ability to make meaningful capital expenditure.
Might this be one way to move forward--have DOT place the car order and lease the cars to Amtrak?
Or even--if you're one of those big privatization fans--put the fleet out for bids and see who comes forward with the best lease terms?
Let's repeat: The government places the order and pays for the cars up front. Then leases them to the operators.
Literally from day one--when it took over a rag-tag fleet of legacy rail cars--Amtrak has been undercapitalized. Congress's habit of stringing the company along year to year hampers any ability to make meaningful capital expenditure.
Might this be one way to move forward--have DOT place the car order and lease the cars to Amtrak?
Or even--if you're one of those big privatization fans--put the fleet out for bids and see who comes forward with the best lease terms?
posted by conductor at 8:54 AM
2 Comments:
URPA believes that Superliners can cover their lease costs with revenue.
Belief is one thing, fact-based analysis another.
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