[sphinx]

Nine figures spent for 10 minutes. If the engineer was speeding, 3 guesses why.

We do the same thing on highway projects all the time because politicians are afraid to tell commuters to live closer to their jobs but want to be seen "doing something" about congestion.

[mewzilla]

It could be argued that many, many more people use congested roadways that ride Amtrak, so highways provide far more bang for the buck.

Amtrak exists for one reason: the Acela service in the NE. Privatize Amtrak. If its Acela users like it so dang much, they can bloody well pay for it.