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<p>[quote user="THEKINGOFDISTRUCTION"]</p> <p>I never got how come UP didn't want Amtrak hauling freight. That express freight was just to help Amtrak's LD trains. And didn't UP do the same in the past when it had passenger service? Why would they be upset about something they did themselves when they ran LD trains? That right there is what really blows my mind about the express freight. [/quote]</p> <p>Allowing Amtrak to compete against the freight railroads for any business would have pitted a government sponsored entity (Amtrak), with no binding requirement to cover its expenses, against an investor owned entity that must provide a return for its shareholders or go out of business.</p> <p>When the investor owned railroads hoisted passenger service, express freight was carried on their trains because they could make money with it. It helped defray the cost of hauling passengers. But against the government they would have faced an uneven playing field. </p> <p>The government, through its regulatory powers, calls balls and strikes for the industries that it regulates. If it was a player, i.e. hauling express freight, it would be calling balls and strikes in a game where it would have been a player. Foul! </p> <p>One of the reasons that I am opposed to having the government run passenger rail is because it is unfair to investor owned, intercity bus operators, all of which compete against it to some extent. The same applies to the airlines. </p> <p>Amtrak can and has used its pricing power, which is supported by the taxpayers, to under cut is competitors. Just think what your reaction would be if you owned a business, and you had to compete against a business that did not have to earn a profit and received heaps of taxpayer money to bail it out if things did not work out as planned. </p> <p>Yeah, I know. The bus companies, airlines, etc. have received heaps of subsidies and don't carry their fair share of the note, although the evidence does not support that contention. </p> <p> </p>
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