While Amtrak is no saint, much of the problem with on-time passenger trains centers on the freight railroads, who treat Amtrak like an unwanted stepchild. My wife and I took the train to Savannah and back from DC a few years ago. We were over four hours late getting in, mostly thanks to CSX sticking us in the hole. That was bad enough, but the return was even worse. The train originated in Florida, and when I check with the clerk in Savannah about arrival time (which was supposed to be around 9 p.m.) he said to check back around midnight (!!!). Well, the train arrived at 3:30 a.m. It was due into DC at noon, but didn't arrive there until after 7. Again, most of the delays were the fault of CSX (and partly NS on the return) just not moving the train along. I think Amtrak asseses fines for delaying their trains, but it appears the freight roads in general would rather pay the fine and not worry about passenger trains.