Also I wonder why it is that separating the ownership of the track infrastructure from the train operations is always so troublesome. It seems to be pretty much the same as what the auto enthusiasts are telling us is the future of highways, with networked car controlling systems, traffic metering, etc.

What is so hard about running standardized trains on a standardized rail network? I know we can't manage to do it over here, but our bone-headedness isn't much of an excuse...