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Legally, Amtrak is supposed to have priority, and freight trains are required to pull off. But freight trains usually get priority because that's what the railw

Legally, Amtrak is supposed to have priority, and freight trains are required to pull off. But freight trains usually get priority because that's what the railway wants, and Amtrak doesn't have the political muscle to do much. But it's illegal. https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Amtrak-has-priority-over-freight-but-5923268.php https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Amtrak-has-priority-o...

bombcar 3y ago
There are tons of loopholes, the biggest of which is running freights that are longer than every siding ...
junofan 3y ago
I highly doubt Amtrak will suddenly run on time if enough people write Congress like their video suggests. The delays are egregious. Can’t they just pay for priority?
- afavour 3y ago
  > Can’t they just pay for priority? With what money? Oh, the extra money they could be allocated by… Congress?
  - junofan 3y ago
    Amtrak sells tickets.
    - kdmccormick 3y ago
      Demanding that a passenger railway be self-funding while also trying to massively increase its scope is... not a path for success. Unless I'm wrong you know of any continent-scale railways that bootstrapped themselves into success recently...?
      - junofan 3y ago
        A possible strategy is to use money from ticket sales to pay for priority, boosting on-time performance which increases the competitiveness of their product.
        afavour 3y ago
        Do you really think no one has thought of this?
    - Hnaomyiph 3y ago
      And for a large portion of their routes are already overpriced and less convenient than almost any other means of travel (except for a handful of actually reasonably-priced routes. A local route on Amtrak costs almost $100 for a one way ticket traveling <200mi A bus ticket for the same route is $30. The bus takes an hour longer. I want amtrak to thrive, but they need to attract customers, not drive more away with higher prices.
      - junofan 3y ago
        System-wide load factor in Feb 22 was 38%. This is not competitive. Perhaps decreasing delays would boost ridership, making tickets cheaper.
scarab92 3y ago
Amtrak are freeloading on privately built and maintained railways. If they want better track alignments, or prioritisation over other users, they should come to a commercial agreement with the infrastructure owners like anyone else. Alternatively, they can build their own infrastructure.
- AlotOfReading 3y ago
  Railroads in the US run through land donated by the government, on tracks given to the railroads by the government, supported with funds from the government. Despite all that aid, the government has had to step in with additional funding to ensure they don't go bankrupt many times, especially in the 1920s, 1930s, 1970s, 2000s, and during COVID. Fulfilling their legal obligations to Amtrak is the least they could do. It's worth noting that the corridors where Amtrak did build dedicated track have the fewest delays and the best safety in the network.
  - johngladtj 3y ago
    It was sold by the government in return for the railroad being built. Every bankruptcy was the direct result of government intervention. The railroads did their part, in spite of being hamstrung at every step by the government.
    - rz2k 3y ago
      I think you’ve misunderstood the arrangement. They were not granted the land where the rails were laid alone. They were granted vast amounts of additional real estate, and the value of that land could have maintained the railways in perpetuity. However, similarly vast fortunes were extracted from the railways instead, and the generational wealth created during these events in the 1800s has proved more durable than the commercial viability of the rails that the country had intended to support.
      - specialist 3y ago
        Yup. Those massive land grants begat timber companies. Which in turn begat real estate and development companies. The story's similar for ranching, mining, power, telecommunications, etc, etc. TLDR: The government is the source of all wealth. Which is terrific. So long as the government's ongoing investments are repaid in kind.
psunavy03 3y ago
Because everyone involved understands that, as currently implemented, Amtrak is irrelevant and a joke. But freight rail isn't.
bluGill 3y ago
Amtrak doesn't need priority, they need to run their trains on time. That means not running old worn out,.under maintained trains. They nees to leave on time, every time. That also means fining the freights when they have the track blocked so they cannot get access in their allocated time which was planed months ago.
- foota 3y ago
  They don't have the legal authority to fine them.

bombcar 3y ago

There are tons of loopholes, the biggest of which is running freights that are longer than every siding ...

junofan 3y ago

I highly doubt Amtrak will suddenly run on time if enough people write Congress like their video suggests. The delays are egregious. Can’t they just pay for priority?

afavour 3y ago
> Can’t they just pay for priority? With what money? Oh, the extra money they could be allocated by… Congress?
- junofan 3y ago
  Amtrak sells tickets.
  - kdmccormick 3y ago
    Demanding that a passenger railway be self-funding while also trying to massively increase its scope is... not a path for success. Unless I'm wrong you know of any continent-scale railways that bootstrapped themselves into success recently...?
    - junofan 3y ago
      A possible strategy is to use money from ticket sales to pay for priority, boosting on-time performance which increases the competitiveness of their product.
      - afavour 3y ago
        Do you really think no one has thought of this?
  - Hnaomyiph 3y ago
    And for a large portion of their routes are already overpriced and less convenient than almost any other means of travel (except for a handful of actually reasonably-priced routes. A local route on Amtrak costs almost $100 for a one way ticket traveling <200mi A bus ticket for the same route is $30. The bus takes an hour longer. I want amtrak to thrive, but they need to attract customers, not drive more away with higher prices.
    - junofan 3y ago
      System-wide load factor in Feb 22 was 38%. This is not competitive. Perhaps decreasing delays would boost ridership, making tickets cheaper.

scarab92 3y ago

Amtrak are freeloading on privately built and maintained railways. If they want better track alignments, or prioritisation over other users, they should come to a commercial agreement with the infrastructure owners like anyone else. Alternatively, they can build their own infrastructure.

AlotOfReading 3y ago
Railroads in the US run through land donated by the government, on tracks given to the railroads by the government, supported with funds from the government. Despite all that aid, the government has had to step in with additional funding to ensure they don't go bankrupt many times, especially in the 1920s, 1930s, 1970s, 2000s, and during COVID. Fulfilling their legal obligations to Amtrak is the least they could do. It's worth noting that the corridors where Amtrak did build dedicated track have the fewest delays and the best safety in the network.
- johngladtj 3y ago
  It was sold by the government in return for the railroad being built. Every bankruptcy was the direct result of government intervention. The railroads did their part, in spite of being hamstrung at every step by the government.
  - rz2k 3y ago
    I think you’ve misunderstood the arrangement. They were not granted the land where the rails were laid alone. They were granted vast amounts of additional real estate, and the value of that land could have maintained the railways in perpetuity. However, similarly vast fortunes were extracted from the railways instead, and the generational wealth created during these events in the 1800s has proved more durable than the commercial viability of the rails that the country had intended to support.
    - specialist 3y ago
      Yup. Those massive land grants begat timber companies. Which in turn begat real estate and development companies. The story's similar for ranching, mining, power, telecommunications, etc, etc. TLDR: The government is the source of all wealth. Which is terrific. So long as the government's ongoing investments are repaid in kind.

psunavy03 3y ago

Because everyone involved understands that, as currently implemented, Amtrak is irrelevant and a joke. But freight rail isn't.

bluGill 3y ago

Amtrak doesn't need priority, they need to run their trains on time. That means not running old worn out,.under maintained trains. They nees to leave on time, every time. That also means fining the freights when they have the track blocked so they cannot get access in their allocated time which was planed months ago.

foota 3y ago
They don't have the legal authority to fine them.