By Frank N. Wilner, Contributing Editor, Railway Age Magazine; June 23, 2018
Amidst extravagant accusations of inhospitable dispatching by host freight railroads of its long-distance passenger trains, taxpayer subsidized Amtrak is aggressively manipulating its privileged position in contravention of a congressional intent to expand private-sector operation of passenger trains. Amtrak’s strong-arm tactics also serve to squeeze monopoly rents from state and regional transit authorities, whose commuter trains share Amtrak-owned facilities. 
Currently occurring in Chicago is Amtrak’s second stealth attempt since 2015 to control physical and economic access to Amtrak-owned passenger stations, allegedly to force higher rents on non-Amtrak commuter operators and choke off nascent private-sector competition for long-distance train operation.
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