After I retired from my main gig I piloted a 19 seat airliner between Ely Nevada and Las Vegas. It was a government subsidized route. After airline deregulation many communities were left without airline service. We usually had 1 to 3 passengers each way. We were a private airline and not government employees.
Maybe it would be better if the existing railroads provided passenger service subsidized as we were. It would probably be cheaper than funding Amtrak.
(Based on pure guesswork with no facts to back up anything.)