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A daily Amtrak train is being forced upon the freight railroads? When Amtrak was created back in the early 1970s there were at the end of private service seven trains making daily stops in Dallas, now there is only one. Furthermore there is a way for the freight companies to increase the number of slots so that Amtrak does not necessarily use up a precious slot: build and maintain faster track. If the railroads could maintain the track for 80 mph service, then the trains could go through any stretch of track twice as fast, and therefore double their capacity. From what I have seen, the railroads have let their track ROT! However, any improvement of any tracks across the country is being paid for with FRA funds, not by private funds alone. Why should the FRA pay to improve private railroad tracks when the government and the taxpayers of America would be better off building brand new high speed track for Amtrak? Notice that Amtrak does pay to use their tracks, and annually gives a bonus for 90 percent on time dispatching performance. Notice Union Pacific could care less about the bonus. One of the reasons why Texas DOT is interested in getting into the railroad track business is because when the railroads were built over 100 years ago, most of the main lines ended at the port of Houston. For example, no railroad built a line from Dallas to San Antonio directly, along Texas' major corridor today. As it is the Eagle uses Mo Pac track to Marshall, T&P track to Ft. Worth, Santa Fe track to Temple, MKT track to Austin, and Mo Pac track to San Antonio. Texas DOT rightly concludes that traffic patterns of the 1880s weren't the same as the traffic patterns of today. If you check out the maps of the TTC, you will see where the state of Texas thinks railroad tracks should be built, and allow any railroad to use them, providing more competition for the freight. Sadly, Burlington Northern Santa Fe does not serve the Austin and San Antonio, whereas the Union Pacific does not serve the panhandles area. Monopolistic ancient right of way won't compete with the modern properly routed TTC. Face it, one of the problems of transportation in the country today is the ancient, poorly routed, rotting monopolistic right of way of the railroads. Then their are those misinformed people who think the railroads should operate our passenger trains. Like how would Burilington Northern Santa Fe serve Dallas, much less San Antonio and Austin. Like how would Burlington Northern Santa Fe serve Dallas with Houston directly?
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