Quote Originally Posted by Hermod View Post
Talking with the AMTRAK people here in Florida, the railroads schedule their freights around the AMTRAK schedule. So long as the AMTRAK train stays on schedule. it should not be sidelined for a freight. When the AMTRAK train falls behind schedule, then it becomes the dispatcher's red-headed stepchild and the freights have priority. If the AMTRAK Pontiac-Chicago train is delayed getting out of Detroit westbound or Chicago eastbound, then it gets scheduled around the freights. If it is on time, the freights are cleared unless there is a problem with the freights and they are blocking the tracks.
And if you've ever taken Amtrak from Denver to Chicago and Chicago to Detroit , you will know that it's almost always behind time.