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[quote user="oltmannd"] I think we may be missing the boat, but consider this:1. Airlines flying DC3s and two lane US highways are what knocked the stuffing out of long distance train travel as the primary mode of travel in the early 1950s.  Now the competition is 737s and an intestate highway network.[/quote]And therein lies the problem. But not the way you might think. The problem is that passenger rail technology in this country hasn't really changed much since the days of DC3s and two lane  highways. Newer technologies exist, we just aren't using them. Why? By the 1950s new technoloties for all modes of transportation were emerging. Public funding went into highways and airports. But since the railroads were traditionally self sufficient they were left out  of the public funding trough. This was not a conspiracy so much as mere neglect. Many railroads wanted to invest  in new passenger technology to stay competitive, but they didn't have the capital. They certainly couldn't compete against the government on funding, so they lost business to highways and airlines. So they turned their passenger operations over to the government, the competition, with predictable results.
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