Editing Amtrak (section)

===Formation===
{{see also|List of railroads eligible to participate in the formation of Amtrak}}
[[File:PCPOST_19710601_Amtrak.png|right|thumb|[[Penn Central Transportation Company|Penn Central Railroad]]'s employee publication announcing the inauguration of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Penn Central Amtrak routes are listed.]]
As passenger service declined, various proposals were brought forward to rescue it. The 1961 Doyle Report proposed that the private railroads pool their services into a single body.<ref>{{Harvnb|Saunders|2001|p=124}}</ref> Similar proposals were made in 1965 and 1968 but failed to attract support. The federal government passed the [[High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965]] to fund pilot programs in the [[Northeast Corridor]], but this did nothing to address passenger deficits. In late 1969, multiple proposals emerged in the [[United States Congress]], including equipment subsidies, route subsidies, and, lastly, a "quasi-public corporation" to take over the operation of intercity passenger trains. Matters were brought to a head on June 21, 1970, when the [[Penn Central Transportation Company|Penn Central]], the largest railroad in the [[Northeastern United States]] and teetering on bankruptcy, filed to discontinue 34 of its passenger trains.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sanders|2006|pp=1–3}}</ref>

In October 1970, Congress passed, and President [[Richard Nixon]] signed into law (against the objections of most of his advisors),<ref name="enoamtrak50-1">{{cite web |last1=David |first1=Jeff |title=Amtrak at 50: The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 |url=https://enotrans.org/article/amtrak-at-50-the-rail-passenger-service-act-of-1970/ |publisher=Eno Center for Transportation |access-date=May 19, 2024}}</ref> the Rail Passenger Service Act.<ref>{{USStatute|91|518|84|1327|1970|October|30|HR|17849}}</ref> Proponents of the bill, led by the [[National Association of Railroad Passengers]] (NARP), sought government funding to ensure the continuation of passenger trains. They conceived the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), a [[Quasi-corporation|quasi-public corporation]] that would be managed as a [[for-profit corporation|for-profit organization]], but which would receive taxpayer funding and assume operation of intercity passenger trains<ref name="FY18 profile" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Thoms|1973|pp=38–39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Land |first=John S. |date=October 17, 1971 |title=Amtrak isn't railroading improvements through to passengers |page=8A |work=Eugene Register-Guard |agency=Associated Press |location=(Oregon) |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B6FWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6761%2C3461756 |url-status=live |access-date=May 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510054858/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B6FWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6761%2C3461756 |archive-date=May 10, 2021}}</ref> – while many involved in drafting the bill did not believe the NRPC would actually be profitable, this was necessary in order for the White House and more conservative members of Congress to support the bill.<ref name="enoamtrak50-1" />

There were several key provisions:<ref>{{Harvnb|Thoms|1973|pp=39–42}}</ref>
* Any railroad operating intercity passenger service could contract with the NRPC, thereby joining the national system.
* The United States federal government, through the [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]], would own all of the NRPC's [[Issued shares|issued]] and [[Shares outstanding|outstanding]] [[preferred stock]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Management discussion Fiscal 2019 |url=https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/financial/Amtrak-Management-Discussion-Analysis-Audited-Financial-Statements-FY19.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625182014/https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/financial/Amtrak-Management-Discussion-Analysis-Audited-Financial-Statements-FY19.pdf |archive-date=June 25, 2020 |access-date=June 23, 2020}}</ref> 
* Participating railroads bought into the NRPC using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses. The purchase price could be satisfied either by cash or rolling stock; in exchange, the railroads received NRPC [[common stock]].
* Any participating railroad was freed of the obligation to operate intercity passenger service after May 1, 1971, except for those services chosen by the [[United States Department of Transportation|Department of Transportation]] (DOT) as part of a "basic system" of service and paid for by NRPC using its federal funds.
* Railroads that chose not to join the NRPC system were required to continue operating their existing passenger service until 1975, at which time they could pursue the customary [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) approval process for any discontinuance or alteration to the service.

Of the 26 railroads still offering intercity passenger service in 1970, only six declined to join the NRPC.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sanders|2006|pp=7–8}}</ref>

Nearly everyone involved expected the experiment to be short-lived. The Nixon administration and many Washington insiders viewed the NRPC as a politically expedient way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains a "last hurrah" as demanded by the public. They expected the NRPC to quietly disappear as public interest waned.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Luberoff|first=David|title=Amtrak and the States|journal=Governing Magazine|page=85|date=November 1996}}</ref> After ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine exposed the manufactured mismanagement in 1974, [[Louis W. Menk]], chairman of the [[Burlington Northern Railroad]], remarked that the story was undermining the scheme to dismantle Amtrak.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Trains|date=March 2009|title=Trains formula for fixing Amtrak|first=Rush Jr. |last=Loving}}</ref> Proponents also hoped that government intervention would be brief and that Amtrak would soon be able to support itself. Neither view had proved to be correct; popular support allowed Amtrak to continue in operation longer than critics imagined, while financial results made passenger train service returning to private railroad operations infeasible.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Casey|first=Robert J.|date=January 5, 1978|title=Federal Money, Priorities and the Railroads|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5|access-date=October 2, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002163944/https://books.google.com/books?id=gJxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Forrester|first=Steve|date=June 1, 1984|title=Amtrak funding no longer a battle|work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8uhVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8|access-date=October 2, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002163948/https://books.google.com/books?id=8uhVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8|url-status=live}}</ref>