In addition to Tesla, a space program and satellite service
for the Internet, Elon Musk is undoubtedly making a name for himself as part of
the United States President Donald Trump's administration.
Now, he has called railroad service in this country ‘sad’
and has proposed a plan to privatize Amtrak.
If he’s trying to make railroad service in the U.S. similar
to what they have in Europe, he is sadly mistaken.
There’s no doubt that Amtrak could be improved, but this
seems like a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. I think he is taking his
role of government accountability a little too vigorously.
Frankly, who’s going to buy this? It would have to be done
piecemeal, which could cause many problems.
This is not the first time somebody has called for Amtrak to
be privatized. In the nearly 53-year history of the service, it seems like an
annual rite of passage.
It’s a noble idea without a definitive plan.
“If you go to China, you get epic bullet train rides,” said
Musk at a tech conference last week. “They’re amazing.”
That part is true, but what’s the point of highlighting a
problem without offering a solution?
“You come back to America, and you’re like, ‘Amtrak is a sad
situation,’” Musk said at the conference. “If you’re coming from another
country, please don’t use our national rail. It’s going to leave you with a
very bad impression of America.”
Taxes are too high. The Yankees should have re-signed Juan
Soto. Scrambled eggs are better than Sunnyside up. See? Everybody has an
opinion, but it’s rare to have a solution.
And saying that Amtrak should be privatized is just an
umbrella without any real substance.
Amtrak is an accepted mode of Transportation. It literally
would take an act of Congress to change it to private.
In response, Amtrak said its “business performance is
strong,” and company officials look forward to working with President Trump to
create a “world-class passenger rail system.”
Again, even the most optimistic statements don’t have much
behind them. I want to be a millionaire, but I don’t have a plan to present it
to you.
Even Amtrak said it doesn’t know what to work on after a
record year. The railroad published a white paper arguing against
privatization, saying, “It is not clear what problem Amtrak privatization
proposals are intended to solve.”
Musk might be the richest guy in the world, but this is what
happens when you appoint your friends to serve.
This could be bad. For once, Elon might be in over his head
with this.
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