Amtrak was launched on May 1, 1971, with the promise to revive America’s intercity passenger trains. Thirty five years later, many believe that America’s experiment with nationalized rail service has failed. Although it was supposed to become self-sufficient within a few years of its inception, Amtrak has absorbed $30 billion in federal subsidies and has repeatedly threatened to shut down the nation’s key rail lines when faced with cash shortfalls. For many years Amtrak ignored making safety improvements on its busiest and most vulnerable routes while plowing capital dollars into lightly used long-distance trains. Should taxpayers continue to pay for Amtrak’s mistakes, or should its thirty-fifth birthday mark the start of a new era for America’s passenger trains?