I've always been puzzled by the rail industry, since in spite of having incredible potential for efficiency, it seems stuck in so many ways by history. In this

I've always been puzzled by the rail industry, since in spite of having incredible potential for efficiency, it seems stuck in so many ways by history. In this case, the impression I get is that we're seeing the result of too much hands-off self-organization. Sure, it's capitalism, but the Invisible Hand has never been conceived as the only factor driving behavior. Perhaps we should be reluctant to involve government, at least in making standards. But all industries have endo-regulation - internally decided protocols. Does this industry just need encouragement in that direction? Something like the ISO/ECMA/IETF bodies that have produced so much computer-related standardization? Three-mile trains sound like a problem - but surely this is an empirical issue. I think part of what's missing is a clear, full-throated statement about where the industry is going. That it's not obsolete (which many people assume), and that it could use some further development in basics. Too often, public discussion on trains devolves into finger-pointing about why the country has no fast commuter routes (and the prodigious amounts of cash that have been poured onto that issue...) Containerization was one of the best things to happen to the rail industry. But surely this sort of evolution would benefit from stewardship across industry, institutional and governmental groups. I'd love to know what the state of the industry is with respect to things like tracking, logistical responsiveness, smart/iot instrumentation, human interfaces, etc.