Public entities have very little

Federal and state regulations. Public entities have very little leverage over the freight railroad companies, and must generally agree to pay very large sums of money to fix up or build new tracks on railroad property in exchange for permission to run additional service on tracks owned by freight railroads.. Freight railroad companies havent enjoyed the subsidies of their counterparts in the trucking or aviation industries.
Remember that UPRR makes lot more money from the freight train than from the passenger train although some passenger agencies have worked out financial incentives to UPRR to allow passenger trains to travel at highspeed on poorquality track, so passenger trains have to slow down in places where track has only been maintained only to levels acceptable for freight. Unlike in Switzerland, freight shipments in this country often run on an erratic schedule.
Unlike the interstate highway or federal aviation systems, the United States has invested comparatively little in our national rail infrastructure. The freight railroad companies main goal is to make profit. Union Pacific has been known to hold up passenger train to allow long, slow freight train that is behind schedule to proceed ahead on single track. These heavy freight trains move slowly compared to passenger trains and cargo doesnt complain when subject to rickety ride, freight companies can by on poorquality track. They have little incentive to maintain the quality of the service.
This hinders the ability of passenger rail agency to improve the quality and frequency of service on tracks owned by freight railroads. If it happens to break along singletrack section, it can prevent passenger train from proceeding for many hours. When freight company owns the track, passenger service can suffer for the following reasonsWear and Tear. Freight trains loaded with cargo are extremely heavymany times heavier than passenger trainsand they rumble along much more slowly than passenger trains.
Freight railroad companies havent enjoyed the subsidies of their counterparts in the trucking or aviation industries. Continuing the analogy, if vehicle on singlelane road breaks down, all traffic on the road comes to halt, unable to proceed until the blockage is removed.
Due to poor infrastructure and extremely heavy congestion on some routes, freight trains are extremely hard on the tracks, causing much wear and tear. Remember that UPRR makes lot more money from the freight train than from the passenger train although some passenger agencies have worked out financial incentives to UPRR to allow passenger trains to proceed on schedule. Public has little leverage. The more freight that needs to be hauled from our western ports, the more all the above problems are exacerbated.









