At the risk of inserting my arm here and pulling back a bloody stump, I think that AMTRAK should be liquidated and restructured into several regional rail authorities, each with a charter to provide regional rail passenger service (including interstate, intrastate and high-speed commuter rail).
After a reasonable startup period, public funding (state pool and federal) would be contingent upon average ridership, on-time service and customer satisfaction ratings. In the meantime, a federal law would pass giving all interstate passenger trains priority on railroad right-of-ways, or the offending company would face stiff fines and lose federal dollars and contracts.
We need to make these folks (AMTRAK and all railroads) accountable for the public money they receive/spend, and the way they treat the public as paying passengers. This has never been the case with AMTRAK, and the railroads all do exactly as they please with AMTRAK trains. That's the primary reason why some AMTRAK trains are never on time.
I've witnessed AMTRAK in operation since its birth in 1971, ridden a hundred or more AMTRAK trains in that time and have seen very little change in anything (save the cost of tickets) in over 30 years of Congressional head-banging and bickering. Every President since Jimmy Carter has wanted to give AMTRAK the heave-ho, but none have had the fortitude (or real support) to do so. However sad, I think its now time to let the other shoe drop.
Personally, I don't need a passenger train that takes me 2000 miles at a crack in a private sleeping car with fancy napkins on the table. Although it was fun while it lasted, those days are gone. I would much rather be able to plan a long rail journey 400-500 miles at a time, travel in a comfortable coach seat, and take reasonably-priced meals when I get OFF the train each day to stay at the AMTRAK Regional Rail Passenger Station Hotel ($69.95 double), which was booked for me when I purchased my rail tickets. We can talk about it and debate it until we're blue in the face, and this basic fact will remain:
Long-distance passenger trains are too expensive to operate
Also, When I need to get to LAX from NYC in a hurry, there are new-fangled things called airplanes. So I also don't need an interstate train that travels 200 MPH. What I need is a comfortable, passenger-oriented rail system that offers me frequent regional service to where I want to go, and value for my travel dollar.
And that's what I think about the future of AMTRAK.