A different perspective on the state of American railroads.
Mr. President, when you get a mo, would you freaking DELIVER US FROM AMTRAK?!?
Pretty please? 😄
Many citizens have never seen a freight train but there are thousands of freight cars in motion at any given time in this nation.
Europe: Rail == Passenger service.
USA: Rail == Freight.
Question: Who owns the rails? In USA, the answer for the most part is “some freight company”. CSX, BNSF etc. How about Europe?
We could have profitable passenger rail operations in the U.S. , but only in a select few markets, like the northeast corridor.
If Amtrak were privatized it could cut all passenger rail routes that could not be profitable. Then, when those money losing lines were not wasting the rider revenues privatized rail outfits could build “high speed” routes, where they would actually work, without taxpayers spending a dime.
However, as this article points out we have a very efficient rail freight system run by private rail companies. But they often share the same rail beds with passenger trains, and already have to adjust schedules to accommodate each other. If privatized passenger rail was to actually improve and expand where profitable, it would require more adjustments with freight lines, or more infrastructure investment to lay more rail beds in some places.
But “high speed” rail should be an initiative of private rail companies with experience in railroads, not newcomers to the industry and not as political initiatives.
One of the few ways government can legitimately assist the rail industry can be, and ought to be no more than, assistance with obtaining the necessary rights of way.