Do really believe that having an oligopoly of 4 class-I railroads operating for profit compared to if we nationalized it and ran it as a public good would mean LESS service and expansion? The rail companies happily take record profits for declining service. The less they spend on crews and actual improvements to rail the happier their shareholders are.

Because the railroads declined to install required safety infra to go above 79 mph for huge swaths of the rail network making rail uncompetitive with early regional airlines.

A concerted government and business campaign to get people into cars rather than onto trains. It’s as much a policy choice as a consumer choice.

Again- CORPORATIONS. I am proposing a national freight carrier (call it Amfreight) that would be responsible for doing all this without concern for profit. Unions are a good thing- the only reason they’ve been demonized is because the ownership hates having to share the fruits of labor’s labor with the actual workers.