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[quote user="daveklepper"] Sam1 and I obviously disagree over the idea that economics alone should govern the priority a freight railroad gives passengers because the very building of every railroad required government assistance, if only concerning the right of eminent domain.  And the railroads were allowed this privilege with the idea of transporting passengers as well as freight.  And then agreed to cut their passenger losses by transfering their operating responsilbities for passenger service to Amtrak.   Sam says they have a right to violate that agreement and reduce their passenger responsibilities even further.   Nuts to that! [/quote] The U.S. is the longest surviving republic in existence today.  Many constitutional scholars claim its longevity is due to the flexibility of its governing documents and institutions, which allow the covenants and laws that govern us to be adjusted for different conditions. Practically everything in our society has changed since the republic was founded.  Requiring investor owned railroads to provide passenger service when there were few alternatives may have made sense at one time, but the times they have a changed. Now people have numerous alternatives, and passenger rail is no longer critical for the well being of the nation. Passenger rail makes sense in relatively high density, short corridors where the cost to expand the airways and highways is prohibitive.  Long distance trains, which are used by less than one per cent of intercity travelers, make no sense.  The freight carriers should not even be required to host them unless they are compensated for the full cost of doing so.
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