> freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. In the US, railroads had to run both freight and passengers or else leave money on the ta

> freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. In the US, railroads had to run both freight and passengers or else leave money on the table, 153 years ago, when the first transcontinental line was finished. And if they wanted to advertise speed to passengers, the freight trains had to yield. When Amtrak started of course things changed a lot, immediately and also gradually, but that was 1971, 52 years ago.