[Dr. Sivana]

What would passenger rail travel be if it were completely deregulated and thrown open to human initiative, free-investment and free-management?

In this country, not much, because air travel is more efficient. Sharing with freight lines does not work well because most freight moves more slowly.

You would probably still have a viable northeast corridor, and maybe a couple of routes between well traveled cities (e.g. Dallas/Houston, LA/San Fran), but for passenger travel, cars and planes make the most sense, and roads efficiently serve multiple purposes. Even in a radically free market, who would want to build a rail to Chicago? If the city decays, the route is worthless. Passenger rail days are past in large, developed countries.

[PGR88]

In this country, not much, because air travel is more efficient. Sharing with freight lines does not work well because most freight moves more slowly.

No offense intended, but I think you are imagining rail as it is now, under present conditions, laws, regulations. We simply don't know how it would evolve in a free system

20 years ago, if someone told you that 1 man would create an auto company worth more than all the century-old legacy automakers combined, would you have imagined it possible?