Like Conrail, it needs to be fully privatized. I think if Amtrak takes on the airline industry (to me, flying is a hassle) and if Amtrak got some high speed rail, it could compete with airlines.
If any of you guys are going between NOLA and Chicago, check out Pullman Rail Journeys. I know and have worked with a few of the principals involved in that organization.
Ah, a ferroequinologist?
Like Conrail, it needs to be fully privatized.
That's probably true, but what Amtrak is dealing with now is the aftermath of years of overbearing govt. regulations that served to bankrupt many Eastern Class 1's and fostered the advent of Conrail. But even the government couldn't make money running trains because of their regulations. It took the Staggers Act that came some four years after Conrail was formed to enable Conrail (along with other floundering railroads) to make a profit and become a private corporation so that they could eventually have a two way stock split between NS and CSX...
Keeping in mind that back in the day when Pennsy and NYC both ran passenger service from NYC to ChiTown on a 15 hour schedule, the infrastructure was in place to do so. Both had vast miles of four track superhighway, and passenger trains for the most part never were delayed by needing to share track with freight. That track luxury is no longer available (although in most locations the right of way is still in place if more track/dedicated passenger track were to be added.)
I don't wish to incite a lot of flaming darts, but here are some, I think, valid points to add into the equation. The first consideration is that IF we are to make an attempt at having a solvent passenger rail service, then that service needs to operate on dedicated track. Keep in mind that at the present time the railroads must build and maintain their own infratructure and supporting network - track, ROW, bridges, signaling, and maintenance of it all - while the competition gets facilities (airports e.g.) and infrastructure (air traffic control system, interstate highway system e.g.) bought, maintained, and paid for with your and my tax money. Amtrak does not own any of the trackage that it runs on with the exception of the North East Corridor (where they actually do an excellent job), so they have no direct control over how impeded their travel is because at any time the freight railroad that owns the track could decide that their freight train with 105 cars full of left-handed widgets is more important than the convenience of the passengers that they delay. Where the funding for that dedicated track comes from is anybody's guess - and no I don't think CA Gov. Moonbeam's or _resident Oblomba'a idea of high speed rail is the way to go - mostly because in those instances we have bureaucrats 'designing' the system instead of rail people, and things thought up by politicians invariably are glorified ponzi schemes.
If and when passenger service has reliable access to track then they can start issuing realistically competitive schedules. Referring to a previous example, if you now check Amtrak's schedule between NYC and CHI, you find the shortest scheduled trip time is close to 20 hours for the Lake Shore Limited (remember it was done daily back then in a reliable 14-15 hours). BUT you also find THIS notice when you go to book a seat.
Then, along with their dedicated trackage, Amtrak needs a real railroad person in charge with the authority to actually act instead of being forced to implement whatever scatterbrained idea some political appointee in District of Corruption decrees. The only way to get a real railroad person in that spot is if Amtrak were privatized and hired their own CEO instead of him being a political appointee. Then the stockholders would determine his future by the success of his policies instead of the quantity of his political contributions. Seems to me that the last real railroad guy they had as Amtrak President got fired because he tried to stand up to congress/Wash and loudly state what needed to be done to make Amtrak viable.
Fully privatizing Amtrak would be a step in the right direction but only if, in conjunction with that move, the restrictive elements that at the present time are not in the control of anyone at Amtrak are fixed...
Unfortunately, even if Amtrak is 'fixed' we will never see a NYC Niagara smoking down the Water Level Route again...