Here it's because the railcar manufacturers can't find enough capital to manufacture new railcars, the railroads can't find enough capital to add more track to their existing lines, buy more railcars, and buy more locomotives to haul them. There are capacity issues here that have nothing to do with government beyond our predatory tax structure.
Wall Street has timelines that go no more than five quarters into the future. This is why railroads can't perform long term planning. Good long term planning would have a short term negative effect on their bottom line that would lower their share price. This is anathema to Wall Street.
The one railroad that has managed to escape this trap is BNSF, which is now totally owned by Warren Buffett. Management in Fort Worth has to keep Buffett happy, and what Wall Street has to say matters not at all. Buffett is all about the long term. He has put together a team on the ground in North Dakota to do long term planning on how to carry Bakken oil on his railroad without affecting everything else. BNSF is ahead of the pack in ordering railcars and locomotives.
While it's familiar, this time the villain is not government.
You need to expand your vision a bit.
If Keystone XL was approved (currently blocked by GOVERNMENT), then the rail capacity that is currently taken up by oil cars, would be available for crops. It's simple really, and YES, the government is culpable.
Does BNSF own 40% of Amtrak? Seems i read that somewhere.
In which case the huge subsidies for rail passenger lines, also lines the pockets of BNSF to that extent. Sweet deal if so. Right up obamaumao’s infrastructure alley so to speak.