The constitution grants the federal government the power to build post offices and post roads
Article 1 Section 8
“To establish Post Offices and Post Roads”
Amtrak doesn’t seem to move postage so it seems to fail this clause. It also seems to fail the general welfare clause being as the majority of the public doesn’t use it. Amtrak doesn’t seem to have any defense value except maybe the evacuation of cities. Can anyone give insight on this?
The Post Office (not Postal Service), Post Roads, and the ability to regulate or oversee interstate commerce. And Congress has the ability to wage war. The last two are what guides them the most. The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was built on the latter while the US highways were built on the former plus the Post roads. Interstate commerce concerns money…so Amtrak is legal depending how the legislation is worded and cast. It wouldn’t have gotten to Bowie, MD if it weren’t legal or Constitutional.
Of course Amtrak in constitutional. Please see for reference McCulloch v Maryland (1819). Chief Justice John Marshall, ruling on the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, a question not dissimilar to this one, wrote, “Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional.”
I hope this answers this silly question. And yes, the Federal Reserve, Social Security, TVA, Medicare, and the Food and Drug Administration, and Amtrak, are constitutional.