Editing Amtrak (section)

===Controversy===
Government aid to Amtrak was controversial from the beginning. The formation of Amtrak in 1971 was criticized as a bailout serving corporate rail interests and union railroaders, not the traveling public. Critics have asserted that Amtrak has proven incapable of operating as a business and that it does not provide valuable transportation services meriting public support,<ref name="Vranich 2004" />{{page needed|date=July 2015}} a "mobile money-burning machine".<ref>Wicker, Tom. ''In the Nation; Young David's Tantrum.'' ''The New York Times'', p. A31 (May 3, 1985)</ref> Many fiscal conservatives have argued that subsidies should be ended, national rail service terminated, and the NEC turned over to private interests.<ref>Frailey, Fred W. ''Can Amtrak Survive the Budget Cutters?'', ''U.S. News & World Report'', p. 52 (April 13, 1981).</ref> Critics also question Amtrak's energy efficiency,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/will-why-liberals-love-trains-68597|title=Will: Why Liberals Love Trains|first=George F. |last=Will|date=February 27, 2011|website=Newsweek|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724015735/https://www.newsweek.com/will-why-liberals-love-trains-68597|url-status=live}}</ref> though the [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]] considers Amtrak among the most energy-efficient forms of transportation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_File:_Copy_Page&cid=1093554056875&c=am2Copy&ssid=565 |title=Inside Amtrak – News & Media – Energy Efficient Travel |website=Amtrak |access-date=January 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212012051/http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak%2Fam2Copy%2FTitle_File%3A_Copy_Page&cid=1093554056875&c=am2Copy&ssid=565 |archive-date=December 12, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, which established Amtrak, specifically states that, "The Corporation will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government".<ref>{{cite web |author=((91st Congress of the United States of America)) |title=Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970: Section 301: Creation of the Corporation |url=http://history.amtrak.com/archives/rail-passenger-service-act-of-1970 |website=United States Government |access-date=July 30, 2012 |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806034240/http://history.amtrak.com/archives/rail-passenger-service-act-of-1970 |url-status=live}}</ref> Then [[common stock]] was issued in 1971 to railroads that contributed capital and equipment; these shares convey almost no benefits,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4571&type=0&sequence=6 |title=The Past and Future of U.S. Passenger Rail Service (sec. 4 n.21) |date=September 2003 |website=[[Congressional Budget Office]] |access-date=November 14, 2008 |archive-date=November 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113102622/http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4571&type=0&sequence=6 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but their holders<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/04-30-03/04-30-03memo.html |title=Subcommittee on Railroads Hearing on Current Amtrak Issues |date=April 30, 2003 |website=U.S. House of Representatives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110231722/http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/04-30-03/04-30-03memo.html |archive-date=November 10, 2006}}</ref> declined a 2002 buy-out offer by Amtrak. There are currently{{When|date=January 2024}} 109.4 million shares of preferred stock, at a par value of $100 per share, all held by the US government. As of February 2015, there were 9.4 million shares of common stock, with a par value of $10 per share, held by [[American Premier Underwriters]] (53%), [[BNSF]] (35%), [[Canadian Pacific]] (7%) and [[Canadian National]] (5%).<ref>{{cite web |first1=Joseph |last1=Vranich |first2=Cornelius |last2=Chapman |first3=Edward L. |last3=Hudgins |name-list-style=amp |date=February 8, 2002 |title=A Plan to Liquidate Amtrak |website=Cato Institute |url=http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa425.pdf |access-date=October 12, 2013 |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015233804/http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa425.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xlYelsGU4kEN7lh1UqVxfG7o3xq9_rhn/view?usp=sharing Amtrak Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that list complete number of Amtrak issued Common and Preferred stock shares and shareholders] Retrieved on May 27, 2022{{dead link|date=November 2022}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230430091700/https://www.railwayage.com/news/fini-to-saga-of-amtraks-common-stock/ Fini to saga of Amtrak's common stock] ''[[Railway Age]]'' February 26, 2015</ref>