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submitted 3 weeks ago by blibla@slrpnk.net to c/memes@slrpnk.net
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[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 38 points 3 weeks ago

Plus commuter trains get delayed frequently to make way for cargo trains.

[-] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 29 points 3 weeks ago

That's because Amtrak only owns their own rails in the NEC (North East Corridor) Boston-NYC-Philly-DC. Everywhere else they are riding on privately owned freight railroad tracks, and the Amtrak trains are often shunted for freight to have priority.

[-] Pieisawesome@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

Actually the law states that passenger rail has priority.

It’s just unenforced so freight ignores it

[-] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

Which is illegal, but unenforced

[-] EldritchFeminity 2 points 3 weeks ago

If the government owns the lines, it's a different story, but most of the rail lines in the US are privately owned. So in most of the US commuter rail is using freight tracks on contract, with one of the stipulations being that the freight trains get priority.

[-] frezik@midwest.social 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Other way around. Amtrak does have priority on all tracks per the 1973 Amtrak Improvement Act. However, this isn't enforced, and the rail companies are kicking and screaming to keep it from being enforced.

[-] EldritchFeminity 1 points 3 weeks ago

Interesting. I had heard that many of the rail lines are used under contract because they're privately owned by the freight companies and that the freight trains having priority was a stipulation of those contracts. Not the lines marked on this map, as those are Amtrak lines, but all the other ones across the country. It might be a local commuter rail thing or something.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Oh no, that’s not owned by Amtrak. Amtrak owns the NEC Boston to DC, but very little of the rest

The map is Amtrak service, which commonly runs on track owned by freight carriers

this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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