题目选项分析

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

A business analysis of the Appenian railroad system divided its long-distance passenger routes into two categories: rural routes and interurban routes. The analysis found that, unlike the interurban routes, few rural routes carried a high enough passenger volume to be profitable. Closing unprofitable rural routes, however, will not necessarily enhance the profitability of the whole system, since_________.

【选项】within the last two decades several of the least used rural routes have been closed and their passenger services have been replaced by buses