Amtrak has weak service outside key corridors because it operates on infrastructure that it doesn't own, which is constructed and maintained to a freight-optima

Amtrak has weak service outside key corridors because it operates on infrastructure that it doesn't own, which is constructed and maintained to a freight-optimal standard, and so is slow and unreliable. Freight traffic conflicts are just icing on the cake, as is politicization of funding and a basic failure of purpose from inception-- Amtrak was a railroad union pension rescue brought about by massive subsidization of auto and air infrastructure in the mid-20th century. The purpose forever has been to extend and pretend, and not to actually make intercity rail travel viable across the US.