runnerdude48
And it will continue to hit the fan until Amtrak is replaced as operator.
I think we lost some of the posts to this thread through modac; I think I know why (someone was quoted in a way that made him appear to be a forum member) but truncating it leaves this post apparently uncontradicted in a way that some of the removed answers had dealt with.
Amtrak only technically 'owns' the track and structures of the ex-PC "corridor" and I think it remains an open issue whether they receive an adequate share of the cost of maintaining the over-100-year-old infrastructure from the transit agencies that now impose most of the 'overload' on the physical plant there.
Personally, I think ownership from, say, Newark out to New Rochelle ought to be given to NJ Transit, MetroNorth, et al., and Amtrak charged a nominal rental for its use of that part of the facilities. Among many things, I think this would more or less quickly have runnerdude48 crying to have Amtrak back as 'operator' -- not so much because people at those agencies are somehow incompetent, but that the agencies are predominantly political in their priorities and strategies.
This may be an important issue if Amtrak loses its LD funding, and continued 'cuts' in Amtrak overhead expenses seem like an expedient thing in reducing "Federal spending". I have to admit I'd shuck the plant to NJ/NY in a heartbeat, start imposing Federal maintenance mandates on the state agencies, and start dangling that good old Gateway money with an appropriate 'stick' for starting in on accelerated repair and maintenance of the older plant. Note how far I would actually get if I proposed this to anyone in the real world.