Why is Amtrak late, when it is?

*Congestion- both on the Northeast Corridor and on freight railroad lines; there just isn't enough track capacity for all of the trains (and some freight railroads think that the payments from Amtrak aren't enough to make it worthwhile to divert freight traffic, despite contracts in place about priority)
* Deteriorating infrastructure in the Northeast- e.g., the catenary is outdated and is prone to failure
* Aging locomotives on some routes (AEM-7s, and some others)

If Amtrak were adequately funded, these problems wouldn't happen.