^ Agreed on ownership. This should be the ideal model pretty much over any corridor where a regional hub and spoke network is built out. Amtrak owns the infrastructure and concessions the freight rail operator, in this case Iowa Interstate over the former Rock Island Line, thus putting the passenger rail needs in the driver's seat not the other way around. Of course I'm an advocate for rail infrastructure nationalization - I think it should have been done 50 years ago. I believe it is the primary reason our rail transportation reality is what it is. The "state" owns, maintains and has full control of planning for the public good, while leasing access to private freight carriers previously saddled with the burden of the infrastructure.
__________________
Everything new is old again
There is no goodness in him, and his power to convince people otherwise is beyond understanding
|