gokeefe wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 10:16 pm Land grants were given in return for original construction. The ongoing regulatory scheme which is protective of the railroads in various ways is for what happens right now. That's the trade off. The railroads get a good deal from their government regulator and in exchange for that they must provide access in the public interest to the government passenger service operator.Grant access without financial loss. Amtrak, or some other government agencies, has to pay what it costs the railroads to provide that access. Of course there will be disagreements between all the parties involved on how much that costs is or will be.
Go to any open market and watch the seller and buyer haggle over the price. That is normal and should be expected. Compromise is the solution, via constant negotiations.
Amtrak seeking financial penalties for delayed trains certainly is not encouraging the freight railroad corporations desiring to have Amtrak trains on their tracks. In fact, it does just the opposite.
We could adopt the Mussolini answer for late arriving trains, but that was a step much too far. Even penalties of death did not solve the late trains, all it accomplish was republishing slower train schedules so no deaths would occur. Nothing happens in a vacuum, unattended reactions usually occur with every action.