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Amtrak has the deck stacked against them: they're a public utility running on private rail. Across vast swaths of their network, that means that if BNSF feels like running today, Amtrak gets to wait. I've noticed that within a single Amtrak line (Coast starliner, Pacific whatever) their timetable ain't bloody bad. But as soon as you get from one principality to another, you're dealing with our dear friend BNSF and he don't give a fuck.
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The fact that Amtrak can lose $800m in 10 years selling $8 sandwiches speaks volumes as to the level of dysfunction that entity operates within.