[db48x]

He oversimplifies it, I think. Amtrak does get track priority over freight during scheduling, but if a train is late then it won’t be in position to take advantage of it. Freight trains don’t cause Amtrak trains to be late to begin with.

[colejohnson66]

There was a post a few weeks ago about this. Basically, the freight companies are deliberately making their trains too long to go on the side track (and wait) when Amtrack comes through. So Amtrack is forced to wait instead. This delays them and caused them to lose their priority scheduling.

[db48x]

No, it doesn’t. Every train trip is completely planned out in advance, assigning each block of track to a single train at a time. There are no surprises. The Amtrak trains are assigned to wait at the siding while the longer freight train passes, so it certainly slows them down but it doesn’t _delay_ them. It doesn’t put them behind their assigned schedule.