Gentlemen,

I realize this is a slightly off-topic subject. However I will ask about it anyway, because it does deal with
preserving what is left of passenger rail service in the
U.S.A.

It seems that for at least the past several months, the Amtrak trains that run between Springfield, Illinois and
Chicago are subject to more delays than I had been
used to seeing in the last several years.

A few weeks ago, I took a day trip from Lincoln, Illinois to Chicago and return. The northbound train #302 was
95 minutes late into Union Station. There were many
delays along the way. Two times our train stopped for
about 20 minutes to wait for a U.P. freight train.
One of those freights was an engine, a tank car, and
a hopper car. I was thinking when I saw that: "An
NRPC passenger train held up for a local freight?"

Anyway, to make a long story short, it really looks to
me like the UPRR is going out of it's way to make
Amtrak trains as late as possible.

Aren't there laws against that sort of thing?
Isn't Amtrak supposed to get priority dispatching?

In the past, these trains were usually pretty much on time. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes late, but not nearly as
bad as things are presently.

Anyone have any ideas or comments about this?

Chuck

I also subscribe to the "Trainorders.com" website, and the problems of Amtrak get a very thorough airing on that site (the term "ad infinitem" comes to mind, and sometimes "ad nauseum"). UP and CSX, and sometimes NS take some serious flak, BNSF does better (I worked for Santa Fe many years ago, so I may have some prejudice). Various political points of view are expressed, and opinions range from "It's time to get serious about rail passenger service in the US--we're decades behind other countries" to "Amtrak is a hopeless mess and should be put out of its misery". I would say that RYPN is probably not as apppropriate as "TO" and other forums more attuned to contemporary rail issues.