I've thought of the network too, though I think of it as Enterprise Rail. And I don't see having it compete with Amtrak, because the gubbmint couldn't compete if they did have their own rail outside The Corridor, and the states involved could inherit that. So, I think there should be a reverse of the process that created Amtrak. The railroads agree to run this or that service for a period of time, and in return Amtrak gives them the equipment to do it with. After all, that's how Amtrak got what it needed to begin in 1971.
And the railroads are pretty damned efficient companies. I think they could compete. Small stations or the big, old stations with plenty of rent-paying stores in them, no complaints if they do form a single system because air and road do still compete with them...
The Union Pacific considers steam excursions worth the trouble a few times a year. Whether they're profitable or just good advertising, I don't know. But I don't see all the railroads shying away from this challenge.
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