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Unfortunately, this doesn't seem like it will speed up travel much at all.

Based on my understanding, travel times in the northeast are limited not by the top speed of the trains, but by the tracks, and the fact that freight is prioritized.

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Legally, freight is supposed to yield to passengers nationwide. It's in the legislation that created Amtrak over fifty years ago. It has never been enforced, and trump isn't about to do it. The UP/NS merger will make it worse. On Amtrak-controlled trackage, there is hope. Northeast Corridor is their show.

Indeed. My understanding was that for most of the country it's de facto the opposite: Amtrak yields to freight.

For as much as Biden purported to be a pro-passenger train President, you'd think he would have done something about that.

The problem is that the freight companies run these incredibly long trains now, which no longer fit into the siding (a bit of track that splits off from and then reconnects to the main track to allow one train to pass the other). So even if a freight train wanted to, it couldn’t let another train pass unless the freight companies invested in longer sidings or shorter trains.

Honestly, if it's my own money I usually just take the older regional trains. Saving 30 minutes isn't generally worth a $100 or so to me.

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