By Frank N. Wilner, Capitol Hill Contributing Editor, Railway Age Magazine; October 2, 2018
Watching Washington, October 2018: From operating plans to marketing to pricing, change is relentless in railroading. Where railroaders once every five years looked with suspicion at all aspects of their system, and made substantial changes after 10, scientific advances, new processes and innovative applications propelled by unremitting competition have put the transformation process on steroids. 
The exception is Amtrak, which clutches an outdated business model, performs as if shielded from competition, and formulates strategy in a rear-view mirror. A near half-century of flailing and failing begs for a new order less reliant on subsidy.
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