Problem is, it's not clear it's possible to shift the benefits to the private sector as well. The government just gets to ride free on the societal benefits. Th

Problem is, it's not clear it's possible to shift the benefits to the private sector as well. The government just gets to ride free on the societal benefits. This is why all the decent railways in the world seem to be publically owned. (Yes, there are badly run publically owned railways. What I'm saying is that it seems to be impossible to successfully run a railway privately.)