Amtrak is aiming to de-prioritize profitability and focus on radically expanding its service with the help of the next infrastructure bill — and help intercity rail take its rightful place as an essential component of our public transportation ecosystem, rather than quasi-private afterthought. For months, top Amtrak leaders have signaled a new direction for the corporation responsible for the vast majority of long- and medium-distance passenger rail in America, including an impassioned letter from board chairman Tony Coscia that called the absence of rail service in some fast-growing American cities “just plain wrong.” He also underscored the inequity of Amtrak’s funding model, a sometimes delicate pastiche of state and federal dollars patched over with passenger fares that has long been bemoaned by advocates who view the mode as an essential public good.