Train Drain.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)

Amtrak: The federal passenger rail company as we know it may be nearing the end of the federal subsidy express line. Next stop: privatization?

The Amtrak Reform Council, an 11-member panel created in 1997 by Congress to provide adult supervision of the system, is studying ways to restructure the money-losing railroad. Some of the options are ill-conceived, such as letting states or multistate groups run some routes. Some are pragmatic, such as killing the biggest money-losing routes.

But only one, breaking up Amtrak and letting private companies take over its routes, makes any sense.

The council has until Feb. 11 to submit a proposal to Congress, …