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Freight rail also has priority over Amtrak, which causes all kinds of problems with scheduling and adds insane delays.

• panick21_ 3y ago
  I mean sure, we can talk for hours about issues with Amtrak. However that doesn't change what I said so I'm not sure why you are bringing it up. Amtrak most likely wouldn't be profitable if they had priority.
  • sarchertech 3y ago
    I think you may have conditioned by HN to assume that any comment is a refutation. I brought it up because it’s an additional piece of the explanation for why amtrack can’t support itself on ticket prices alone.
    • panick21_ 3y ago
      Fair. I'm just saying that its one of many factors so I was confused why you would bring it up specifically.
      • sarchertech 3y ago
        Mostly because it’s the single biggest thing that keeps me from using Amtrak. The last few trips I’ve taken, we ended up sitting waiting on freight trains for many many hours. Each big city we came to we had to stop and wait without having any idea how long it would take for “freight traffic to clear”. I love train travel, and I’m not price sensitive at all, but the delays were completely absurd.