The politicians have been bribed to keep rail for freight as much as possible. The rail companies push to have longer and longer trains so that the passenger trains, which are supposed to have right of way on tracks, have to take the bypass tracks to let freight trains pass. Freight also has one of the highest profit margins in a business at close to 50%, mostly b/c of them cutting every possible corner they can while maximizing load and shipping frequency. The rail industry is need of regulation, overhaul, and infrastructure development.