Most Americans have no train worth taking. Here's a plan to change that.
A proposal to replace Amtrak with competing regional rail companies, connected by one fare card and a national high-speed network.
An illustrative sketch of how the three tiers connect. Routes are examples, not proposed alignments. Alaska and Hawaii are not shown.
Amtrak runs on track it doesn't own
Congress created Amtrak in 1970 to take over passenger trains that freight railroads no longer wanted to run. More than fifty years later, it is still one federally subsidized operator, running mostly on other companies' track.
of the 21,400 route-miles Amtrak trains travel is track Amtrak owns. Freight railroads own, maintain, and dispatch the rest.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice complaint against Norfolk Southern, 2024of delay minutes on long-distance trains came from host railroads in one recent quarter. Another 25% came from Amtrak's own equipment, crews, and systems.
Source: Railway Age, using FRA data for FY 2025, second quarterlong-distance routes ran on time less than half the time. The federal standard is 80%.
Source: Trains.com, summarizing FRA data for FY 2025, second quarterThe law already says passenger trains get priority over freight. In 2024, the Justice Department sued Norfolk Southern for regularly failing to give Amtrak that priority on one route.Source: 49 U.S.C. ยง 24308; the DOJ complaint above
Amtrak's trouble is structural, not a failure of effort. This proposal changes the structure.
Three kinds of trips, three kinds of rail
Each tier is built for the distance it serves best, the way France, Japan, and Germany separate local, regional, and high-speed rail. A rider moves between all three with the same fare card.
Metro lines: your daily trips
Local trains inside one metro area. Light rail is the minimum; subway or commuter rail can substitute where it already exists.
- Required in
- Every metro area with 1.5 million people or more. That is 41 areas on the current list. Smaller areas can opt in and get the same funding.
- Why 1.5 million
- It is the low end of where U.S. light rail already draws riders, in places like Norfolk and Milwaukee.
- Existing systems
- City-run systems like New York's MTA and DC's WMATA would be chartered as companies and auctioned like new ones. Workers, union contracts, and ADA commitments carry over.
Express rail: the cities in your region
Regional trains for trips of roughly 100 to 500 miles: too long for a commute, too short to justify a flight.
- Speed
- Up to about 125 mph on conventional or higher-speed equipment.
- Coverage
- Every metro area on the required list gets at least one express line.
- Structure
- 14 regions, each with its own coalition of operating companies. Every region must build at least one direct line into each neighboring region.
High-speed rail: across the country
A dedicated national network running 150 to 220 mph on electrified, mostly grade-separated track, built to the standard of Japan's Shinkansen and France's TGV.
- Coverage
- At least one stop in every state except Alaska and Hawaii, and in every metro area on the required list.
- Air alternative
- Direct or single-transfer service between the ten largest metro areas.
- Build order
- Corridors with the heaviest air travel come first, because they pay back fastest and show the value early.
- Who runs it
- The regional express coalitions join together to run one national high-speed coalition.
One card for every tier
- Tap onto any metro or express line in the country without a separate account for each operator.
- Reserve high-speed seats through the same account: online, in an app, or at a station kiosk.
- Fares are split among operators automatically, based on the segments you rode.
- Cash-loadable kiosks at every station, so you don't need a smartphone or a bank account.
How it works
Every network starts the same way, from the smallest metro line to the national high-speed system.
- CharterThe federal government creates a rail company for each network.
- AuctionThe right to run it goes to the highest qualified bidder.
- Build privatelyUp to five years to build without quarterly earnings pressure.
- Go publicThe company lists on the stock market. The government keeps a non-controlling golden share.
Who can run the trains?
Bidders can be existing transportation companies, infrastructure investors, or private citizens who meet capital and safety requirements set by the Federal Railroad Administration.
No bidder can control more than one metro company and one express or high-speed company at the same time, so no single owner takes over the national network.
What does the government keep?
A golden share in each company: a non-controlling stake used only to enforce safety, interoperability, and fare-card standards. The government does not take part in day-to-day management.
Competition without chaos
Companies chartered under the Act cannot merge or acquire each other, which prevents a new national monopoly.
They must sign binding agreements on shared track access, through-ticketing, and common signaling. A national Rail Interoperability Board settles disputes over track access, schedules, and technical standards.
Who pays?
- The federal government pays one-third of each network's yearly operating costs. Fares and commercial revenue, such as station retail and advertising, cover the rest.
- Once a network's own revenue beats its operating costs over a rolling three-year average, the federal share must be reinvested in that network instead of paid out as profit.
- New construction is funded separately, through federal infrastructure grants and low-interest loans.
- Funding depends on meeting safety, accessibility, and on-time standards. Operators that keep falling short can lose their charter and see the network re-auctioned.
What happens to Amtrak?
- Amtrak's charter is wound down. Its track, trains, stations, and maintenance facilities transfer to the new regional companies.
- The Northeast Corridor goes jointly to the Northeast express coalition and the national high-speed coalition.
- The federal government takes on Amtrak's existing debt, so new companies don't start in the red.
- Amtrak employees get hiring priority in their home region. Union contracts carry over for a minimum transition period, and pensions stay federally backed.
- Long-distance routes keep running on current schedules until the new coalition for that area is operating.
What would your state get?
Choose a state to see which regional coalition would cover it, which metro areas would be required to build a metro line, and whether high-speed rail would stop there.
Your results will appear here.
Common questions
Why not just give Amtrak more money?
More subsidy doesn't change the structure: one national operator with little competitive pressure and little access to private capital, running mostly on track other companies own. This proposal treats that structure as the problem.
Isn't this just privatizing a public service?
Ownership would move to private companies, yes. But the government keeps a golden share to enforce safety and fare-card standards, pays a third of operating costs, and can pull the charter of any operator that keeps missing safety, accessibility, or on-time standards.
Who pays for it?
The federal government would pay one-third of yearly operating costs. Fares and commercial revenue cover the rest, and new construction would use federal grants and low-interest loans. A full cost estimate doesn't exist yet.
Won't freight railroads still slow trains down?
High-speed lines would run on their own dedicated track. Where trains do share track, companies must sign binding access and scheduling agreements, and a national Rail Interoperability Board settles disputes.
Would my small town get service?
Not every town would get a station. High-speed rail would stop in every state except Alaska and Hawaii, which run standalone networks, and every metro area of 1.5 million people or more would get a local rail system. Smaller areas can opt in to a metro system of their own and draw on the same federal funding formula.
What about Amtrak's workers?
Current employees would get hiring priority at successor companies in their home region. Existing union contracts would carry over for a minimum transition period, and pensions stay federally backed.
Is this an actual bill?
Not yet. It is a citizen-written proposal. Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill, and this one is looking for a sponsor.
From proposal to bill
The framework is written. These are the stops that take it from a proposal to legislation.
- The proposal You are hereA complete framework and a draft bill, ready to be read and improved.
- A price tagAsk the Congressional Budget Office to score the plan and test the one-third federal share.
- A sponsorA member of Congress introduces the bill and carries it into committee.
- Companion billsSeparate measures set the Amtrak wind-down timeline and speed up rail permitting.
Read the full proposal and the draft bill
Fill out a short interest form and you'll get the complete proposal packet and the draft bill text. It takes about a minute.
Congressional offices and members of the press may request the documents directly at nathan@skott.us.
