Amtrak offers discount to NFL fans in California

{mosads}Amtrak has come under fire lately for the amount of money is spends offering concessions like its Café Car onboard its trains.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), who is in a contentious primary against Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), said Amtrak lost $833 million in the last 10 years on food and beverages. Mica, who has been criticized by Adams for his role in passing large transportation bills, called the concession expenses “staggering.”

Mica visited a Washington, D.C., McDonald’s to protest the Amtrak food program, arguing that a burger and soda at the fast food chain only costs $2.

Mica and other Republican lawmakers have also criticized Amtrak’s ridership on routes outside of the populous Northeast like the railway’s California Corridor.

Rail ridership in California has been a topic of debate in Washington because of a controversial proposed high-speed railway that was recently approved by state lawmakers after the Obama administration provided $3 billion to the project.

Opponents arguing that the high-speed rail will not generate enough ridership to pay for its operations, often pointing to existing railways in the area like Amtrak’s.