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[–]privatejoker11 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Basically agreeing with your assessment, I would only add that if oligarch-controlled America had wanted to provide an efficient rail network for its people, it could have easily done so long ago. Instead it tore up what was already built and installed monstrous, perpetually congested motorways everywhere. After all, railroads were to a large degree developed in America (after their introduction in Britain and Germany). The know-how wasn't lacking, only the social-political will of its populace.

[–]privatejoker11 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Anyway, the only reason the oligarchs leave trains mostly alone for now is that, in the US, they are insignificant. Few people use them, so it doesn't matter much to them. They are concerned with numbers. Since Amtrak is mostly a novelty in America, it doesn't matter how strictly the rules are enforced there. You could prance about the train car naked while coughing all over the place, for all they care.