The grant should make it possible to restore passenger service to the Gulf Coast after Amtrak reached an agreement with CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads last year to clear the way for passenger trains to resume operating on the tracks the freight railroads own.
A long time ago we “sold” the lines to freight companies, and they won’t maintain them, because the insurance is cheaper, even after a wreck like in Ohio.
The solution is reclaiming those rail lines.
Instead we’re giving the freight companies 1.4 billion, expecting them to actually fix (what they own) and then to be nice and share it with Amtrak.
A whole bunch of money is going from tax payers to corporations, but I just know some idiot is going to call Biden “the next FDR” for this shit.