4 ms·

My experience on Amtrak is that the train makes good time, until a freight train comes along, and the passengers have to wait, and wait, and wait... This is pr

My experience on Amtrak is that the train makes good time, until a freight train comes along, and the passengers have to wait, and wait, and wait... This is presumably a policy/lobbying/political problem, not one of physical infrastructure. I think people have said that the US rail system exists for freight, and without the will to change that, passengers are second class.

michael1999 5y ago
The tracks are owned by freight, and rented for passenger. Changing that would be expensive.
- iluvcommunism 5y ago
  We just need Amtrak to own their own rails. Or whoever runs the passenger lines. It’s ridiculous they share it.
  - pstuart 5y ago
    Agreed. Nationalize the rails, invest in and enforce PTC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control), and make passenger traffic a peer to freight. We could allow for a "market economy" of the rails where you could have differentiated passenger services with Amtrak being the the fundamental offering and allow third parties to participate as well.
    - antognini 5y ago
      The British model, where the state owns the rails but the train services are private, seems to work a lot better than the US model which is the opposite.
      - pstuart 5y ago
        It's a public commons, like the roads, air space, and radio frequencies. I think the downvoters see the word "nationalize" and panic over unfounded fears of communism.
  - jerrysievert 5y ago
    I think that would only work if the freight trains were not allowed on the Amtrak owned rails. even now, amtrak has legal right of way, but the freight companies ignore it because there is no recourse.
- jerrysievert 5y ago
  amtrak has right of way over the freight trains, but that does not seem to matter to the freight companies, as they never get fined over it. see http://blog.amtrak.com/2019/05/why-are-amtrak-trains-delayed-by-freight-trains/ http://blog.amtrak.com/2019/05/why-are-amtrak-trains-delayed... for more context.
mindslight 5y ago
From riding the train cross country a few times and researching, my understanding is that the big delays come about due to the train getting to be a little late, and then losing subsequent reservations down the line. One of the biggest delays I experienced was outside of ABQ, which I believe was because the train lost its timeslot and had to fit in between local commuter trains. Which indicates that freight trains do get rescheduled a bit, just not nearly enough. I don't know if there is a straightforward solution, as it's death by a thousand cuts right now. The schedules need a little more slack, the fines for freight trains that don't yield need to have serious teeth (perhaps even reimbursing freight traffic that is subsequently delayed down the line), and areas under contention need more tracks. Without a serious infrastructure buildout, the train is never going to be competitive with car speeds (we'd need to get rid of all level crossings, for starters). But it could at least be predicable.

michael1999 5y ago

The tracks are owned by freight, and rented for passenger. Changing that would be expensive.

iluvcommunism 5y ago
We just need Amtrak to own their own rails. Or whoever runs the passenger lines. It’s ridiculous they share it.
- pstuart 5y ago
  Agreed. Nationalize the rails, invest in and enforce PTC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control), and make passenger traffic a peer to freight. We could allow for a "market economy" of the rails where you could have differentiated passenger services with Amtrak being the the fundamental offering and allow third parties to participate as well.
  - antognini 5y ago
    The British model, where the state owns the rails but the train services are private, seems to work a lot better than the US model which is the opposite.
    - pstuart 5y ago
      It's a public commons, like the roads, air space, and radio frequencies. I think the downvoters see the word "nationalize" and panic over unfounded fears of communism.
- jerrysievert 5y ago
  I think that would only work if the freight trains were not allowed on the Amtrak owned rails. even now, amtrak has legal right of way, but the freight companies ignore it because there is no recourse.
jerrysievert 5y ago
amtrak has right of way over the freight trains, but that does not seem to matter to the freight companies, as they never get fined over it. see http://blog.amtrak.com/2019/05/why-are-amtrak-trains-delayed-by-freight-trains/ http://blog.amtrak.com/2019/05/why-are-amtrak-trains-delayed... for more context.

mindslight 5y ago

From riding the train cross country a few times and researching, my understanding is that the big delays come about due to the train getting to be a little late, and then losing subsequent reservations down the line. One of the biggest delays I experienced was outside of ABQ, which I believe was because the train lost its timeslot and had to fit in between local commuter trains. Which indicates that freight trains do get rescheduled a bit, just not nearly enough. I don't know if there is a straightforward solution, as it's death by a thousand cuts right now. The schedules need a little more slack, the fines for freight trains that don't yield need to have serious teeth (perhaps even reimbursing freight traffic that is subsequently delayed down the line), and areas under contention need more tracks. Without a serious infrastructure buildout, the train is never going to be competitive with car speeds (we'd need to get rid of all level crossings, for starters). But it could at least be predicable.