I wonder how things might change if 1% of highway funding were diverted to rail funding. And if 1% of USPS funding went into funding mailcars on Amtrak trains. And if 1% of federal unemployment stimulus went into hiring new employees for rail.

Maybe current funding dwarfs all those accumulated 1%s. I don't know. But maybe a dozen 1%s could help out a dozen other challenges and give a huge boost to passenger rail in the U.S.