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Why Amtrak Sucks

13 points| brownindian | 3 years ago |youtube.com

9 comments

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db48x|3 years ago

He oversimplifies it, I think. Amtrak does get track priority over freight during scheduling, but if a train is late then it won’t be in position to take advantage of it. Freight trains don’t cause Amtrak trains to be late to begin with.

colejohnson66|3 years ago

There was a post a few weeks ago about this. Basically, the freight companies are deliberately making their trains too long to go on the side track (and wait) when Amtrack comes through. So Amtrack is forced to wait instead. This delays them and caused them to lose their priority scheduling.

cratermoon|3 years ago

deregulation, late capitalism, short-term thinking.

rayiner|3 years ago

Amtrak is owned by the federal government. The President appoints the board of directors. It’s literally socialist (public ownership of the capital stock).

Xorakios|3 years ago

or rather, over-regulation, union focus on maximizing employment numbers instead of total compensation and quality of life, and similar short-term thinking (edited to reflect that I believe private sector unions are generally good, but focusing on membership count is not)