This may be true for airlines but not the railroads. Amtrak, with a very minor exception, carries only passengers. The major railroads carry freight only. Airlines, in most cases, carry passengers and freight on the same flight, thus allowing many flights to be profitable in spite of the fact that they are carrying few passengers. David R > My $0.02 > > Trains carry people but railroad dollars are, overall, mostly freight dollars. > > The cargo component of what drives market prices for people in the air is often > overlooked. South American and Carribean markets are especially lucrative for > cargo, often because of thinness of service. > > So a railroad conductor is in most cases (except possibly the NE corridor where > rail service is frequent and the fares high relative to air) a freight hauler. > Freight haulers likely add more value per ton hauled (or flown) than commuter > pilots, who can't put too much in the bellies of those ERJ/CRJs. > > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam