like my coffee Eastern corridor is so profitable it props up crazy trips to flyover country, that no one wants to ride on. And the Eastern corridor could be run efficiently by a private company, pay good wages and get rid of union folks, and keep the best employees. You don't need a union member to collect tickets, for god's sake. These people would not be driving or flying, the traffic slows down your progress, what you WOULD have is an Acela train that actually could go fast instead of being prohibited, and more competition. More trains when the holidays come, more cars on trains that have high ridership. They don't run it to its maximum potential, they have no incentive. Fleuries on September 11, 2012 at 8:33 PM The biggest (and getting bigger) obstacle to Amtrak is freight rail. For one, they have to share the tracks with freight which disallows the really speedy trains. Two, freight rail is investing billions of private monies to upgrade an already efficient system and spending millions on very effective advertising. They need to look at Canadiuan National's experience. They privatized, expanded, and are profitable. They have some passenger service, mostly GO trains, commuters, and tours. But the cross-country from Toronto to Edmonton was a real experience and much nicer than anything Amtrak has offered. It was pricey but the cabin replaced a motel so it wasn't that much more than flying. And seeing the country was worth it. The platform Republicans adopted