America's Amtrak moment could finally be here

Fifty years after the first Amtrak train left the station on the creaking remains of America's nation-building rail network, the country's neglected rail service could at last be on track to move into the modern era as President Joe Biden seeks to inject a massive dose of funding to revitalize and drastically expand services. 

(CNN) — Created in 1971 from the creaking remains of the classic US railroads that helped build modern America, Amtrak has often lived a precarious existence. Subject to the whims of politicians in Washington D.C. and constantly under pressure from the well-funded and hugely influential oil, automotive and airline industry lobbies, the national passenger rail operator has been threatened with oblivion on several occasions. But as it celebrates a 50th anniversary that few would have been brave enough to predict, there are signs that Amtrak's moment may finally have arrived.