The recent Amtrak derailment tragedy in Philadelphia raised, for better or worse, the issue of America’s underfunded infrastructure. In covering that aspect of the story, journalists have been keen to point out that Amtrak is publicly funded and does not turn a profit. Journalists have flagged this fact in an effort, I imagine, to seem balanced: perhaps the accident ought to serve as a wake-up call for budget makers to spend more on infrastructure, but (so the story goes) since Amtrak is not technically profitable, why pour money into it?

In my mind, this begs the question: must profitability be the supreme criteria for a publicly administered technology? This is a question that we, as American citizens, ought to mull over. Transportation and communication networks connect individuals and communities to each other. By using them, people make real what otherwise might be simply imaginary–the civic community. Shouldn’t a technology’s ability to foster a flourishing community be of higher value to citizens than its ability to turn a profit?

I suspect that, at some level, American culture does not resonate with the reality of rail transportation–which is why Americans need more trains. Trains serve communities, not individuals. Individuals gather at their community’s local station and then join a host of people headed towards a destination according to an outsider’s schedule. Unlike the automobile, which enables drivers to start and stop their trips at will, trains demand of riders a degree of humility. It’s a technology of togetherness, not one of autonomy. Trains are the medicine for the self-focused bent of American society.