How come Amtrak doesnt have its owns tracks and has to share tracks with freight trains.?

Question

How come Amtrak doesnt have its owns tracks and has to share tracks with freight trains.?

Answer 1

Cost.

It'd simply cost too much to set up specially reserved tracks for one rail company - with construction, maintenance and the like. It'd be similar to why each bus company can't have it's own lane or each airline it's own runway or airport...cost, space....

I mean, it could happen...but the cost of tickets would go through the roof.

Answer 2

Amtrak is a federally supplemented train service and cannot afford to have it's own tracks.  Federally funded means paid for by tax payers, and tax payers don't like paying so someone else can ride the train for a lower fare.  It the fares were high enough to support the service, no one would be able to afford it.

Answer 3

Amtrak was "born" back in 1971 when the freight railroads in essence abandoned passenger operations.  A deal was cut between the private freight railroads and the government to allow Amtrak to operate on the freight's lines.  Amtrak does own trackage from Boston to Washington (excluding New Haven, CT to New Rochelle, NY), and some tracks in Michigan and Chicago.  If the government would properly subsidize the infrastructure, Amtrak would not have issues such as the power problems in the Northeast.

Answer 4

Amtrak DOES own several stretches of track -- in the Northeast...

Why do they have to share with freight trains? Because they are just as important and have to use the same tracks obviously.

Why do the freight railroads own those tracks? Because they bought them and have owned them for years -- even way before Amtrak.

Addition: Since there is conflicting incorrect info below...

Amtrak owns the following on the on the North East Corridor north of NY Penn:

New Haven CT East to the MA border -- from there, State of MA owns into Boston.

Also, Amtrak owns the Springfield MA line from New Haven east where the line branches off the NEC, up into Springfield.

They DO NOT own Boston-Springfield (CSX does).

Answer 5

Amtrak was born to take over passenger operations of freight railroads.  So in May 1rst, 1971 184 trains continued to be operated by contract between Amtrak and the private railroads.  The network was decided by the federal goverment and the trains not included were discontinued.  After 1971, Amtrak get more involved in train operations and started to took over the on board crews (with exception of loco crews and conductors, that went to Amtrak in the 80´s).  Some track sections went to Amtrak as it also get the control of stations.  In 1976 Amtrak get the control of the Washington-New York-Boston (with exception of a strech owned by Connecticut), Boston-Springfield and Philadelphia-Harrisburg.  Later, a section of line bewteen Chicago and Detroit also went to Amtrak.  So Amtrak has some track sections, but in others they run over tracks of freight or commuter operators.

Answer 6

cuz it sux