Is Amtrak better? Well, given recent events in Washington.

But, after Chatsworth, Veolia couldn't seem to hire enough retired Amtrak road foremen, and parade them in public at every Metrolink meeting for what seems to be months afterward, trying to repair the "damage" they had inflicted on themselves...

Veolia, when going after the ML contract, had hired some folks who were effectively political "trolley jollies" high on Ayn Rand and the glorious free market, as applied to being a contractor for a government subsidized and highly regulated service... Go figure that idea, for an Ayn Rand "free market" business model.

Veolia appears to have hired these folks, with little thought as to their history, or their actual experience, or any real credentials to run a railroad. They seemed to have hired these folks to "spread the gospel" and to stroke certain politicians to help Veolia win over folks they needed to get the contract. And, for whatever reason, kept these people on, after they got the contract, and from day one, the influence of ignorance and even indifference of those folks, seemed to permeate down to many aspects of Veolia operating practices, and compliance with the applicable rules and regulations.

Veolia's investors learned a very expensive lesson from Chatsworth, from putting "true believer" "enthusiasm and beliefs" of a "sales team" ahead of "actual qualifications, and proven experience" of folks with rail "operations"... So some lessons seem to have been learned, others maybe not so much, or forgotten as the memory of the consequences fade over time. But, as we've witnessed in the recent events in the Puget Sound, if an organization and its leadership create a poor "corporate cultures", improperly focused, with inadequate discipline, oversight, or accountability, it seems to inevitably lead to the kind of lax attitudes and bad habits, that can have tragic consequences