Reply #21: Who owns the tracks? Who controls them?

[mwooldri]

If it's the freight train companies that own and/or operate that bit of track, then whose traffic are they going to favour over that piece of track? I've seen plenty of Amtrak trains from New Orleans up to NYC - or even the shorter one from Charlotte to Washington DC be delayed for quite some time waiting for a Norfolk Southern freight train to pass. Faster trains need priority - and there's still too much single track... dual track will increase capacity, better track layout will increase speed, new rolling stock will increase speed.

Aren't Amtrak still running what would be considered very old trains? I don't know how Richard Branson did it in the UK - he bid for some rail franchises and as part of the franchise commitment he would replace all the rolling stock with brand new trains that could go faster. He honored his pledge but the rail regulator took one of his franchises away...

Mark.