Heartland flyer trip sucked.

[CoronaBorealis]

Amtrak is supposed to have priority over freight. That however does not mean that the track operators abide by that. The best thing you can do is contact our federal reps so they can give Amtrak a little teeth on the matter. I am sure that a fine paid to Amtrak for every minute that a train waits on a siding will fix the issue. It however is better now than it used to be.

Even the on board conductors were telling us Amtrak had to give way to the freight trains.

 

[NightShade]

Even the on board conductors were telling us Amtrak had to give way to the freight trains.

Nope, they don't. http://thehill.com/policy/transport...n-proposals-amtrak-said-would-increase-delays

I can't find the acutal law and not going to search too much harder for it but the GOV put a law on the books that says Amtrak has priority over freight. That was struck down by an appellate court in 2008 since Amtrak is basically like the post office, a private company owned by the GOV, and that Amtrak then had their hand in writing the law. But the supreme court threw out that ruling in 2015 http://www.scotusblog.com/case-file...ortation-v-association-of-american-railroads/ which means that Amtrak has the priority over freight.

The problem is that Amtrak does not own the rails and they do not have any authority to enforce the law while most of the agencies involved are understaffed or just plain don't care about it https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Amtrak-has-priority-over-freight-but-5923268.php

So the conductors were wrong. If you ride the train again feel free to inform them of their error.

 

[CoronaBorealis]

Nope, they don't. http://thehill.com/policy/transport...n-proposals-amtrak-said-would-increase-delays

I can't find the acutal law and not going to search too much harder for it but the GOV put a law on the books that says Amtrak has priority over freight. That was struck down by an appellate court in 2008 since Amtrak is basically like the post office, a private company owned by the GOV, and that Amtrak then had their hand in writing the law. But the supreme court threw out that ruling in 2015 http://www.scotusblog.com/case-file...ortation-v-association-of-american-railroads/ which means that Amtrak has the priority over freight.

The problem is that Amtrak does not own the rails and they do not have any authority to enforce the law while most of the agencies involved are understaffed or just plain don't care about it https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Amtrak-has-priority-over-freight-but-5923268.php

So the conductors were wrong. If you ride the train again feel free to inform them of their error.

 

[Okiedog]

Amtrak is supposed to have priority over freight. That however does not mean that the track operators abide by that. The best thing you can do is contact our federal reps so they can give Amtrak a little teeth on the matter. I am sure that a fine paid to Amtrak for every minute that a train waits on a siding will fix the issue. It however is better now than it used to be.

But who wants to be on a train arguing over who has ROW?