Why the trains don't run on time
Frustrating news out of North Dakota: one of the most viable longer-range Amtrak routes is being plagued by delays, courtesy of a parade of freight trains hauling crude away from oil-boom country.
This is the point where passenger-rail skeptics and government haters generally laugh and say, what else is new? Amtrak’s running late!
But our shell of a national passenger rail system has been dealt a pretty tough hand. Cars have public highways, funded by not just gas taxes but also lots of other public dollars. Airlines get major public subsidies (which don’t always inspire loyalty to the publics in question). Also access to public airspace.
