And that’s the only major part of the network where Amtrak controls the tracks. Elsewhere, it’s hamstrung by limited capacity and bad/illegal behavior by privat

And that’s the only major part of the network where Amtrak controls the tracks. Elsewhere, it’s hamstrung by limited capacity and bad/illegal behavior by private operators. The Office of the Inspector General put together a fairly comprehensive report about this: https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Causes_Final_Report_9_8_08_with_508_charts.pdf https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Caus... In principle, this could easily be fixed—-and cracking down operators ignoring the preference rules did help a lot—-but people have to want it.