I'm saying there should be zero stops. Privately-run transportation is smarter about stops. The airlines don't make all those stops when going from SF to LA. T

I'm saying there should be zero stops. Privately-run transportation is smarter about stops. The airlines don't make all those stops when going from SF to LA. They do a non-stop flight. There is no reason a train has to stop, and non-stop trains are still capable of serving all those cities. You buy a ticket, board the train, and it goes non-stop to the destination city. All this requires is that a stopped train doesn't block the other trains from passing through. Put the station off to the side, maybe even a couple miles from the main track.