The Libertarian philosophy

[Beatnik]

Amtrak took over rail travel in 1970, during a time when airline tickets were far more expensive than they are today in constant dollars. Most private rail travel was gone or going quickly. The market no longer supported 19th-century travel technology and speed.

And this has nothing to do with libertarianism.

But the OP was about libertarianism and the use of force.

Here's what I found today:
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/rails-history.html

In 1917 the federal government nationalized the rail system. Totally socialist, including guaranteed profits to the rail companies.

The article writer didn't see fit to relate these facts, but it states also that there was a 20% increase in fare in 1920, and that the decade of the 1920's saw a threefold increase in the number of automobiles.

So, it seems like using force to nationalize the system leads to higher fares which leads to more automobiles....

Then the railroads gained back control in WWII, and set records with numbers of fares and amount of freight handled. However, a 15% tax on passenger tickets wasn't removed until 1962 - which was a good bit into the whole interstate project.

Then there's this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak#Passenger_rail_service_before_Amtrak

In 1947, the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ruled that passenger trains could not exceed 79 mph (127 km/h) without special in-cab signaling systems; railroads complained that such systems were not needed outside a few congested intercity corridors and that they would have to spend the equivalent of a half billion dollars to comply with the regulation. As a result, plans to develop intercity high-speed rail services were shelved

Now, the railroads did a good bit to screw it up themselves, too - but all I'm trying to do, like budney, is support the idea that if the gov't hadn't used force unnecessarily and screwed with this for the last century, things would be different.

But getting back off topic, I don't understand the references to 19th century travel technology and speed. The interstate system has certainly evolved in the last 50 years - we went from high speed limits down to 55, up to 65 through even 80 in some parts of Texas now. Have these changes affected new road construction? I'll bet.

In fact, as someone who as driven a good number of old cars, I'd argue that the road systems are incapable of evolving in the way you suggest we should. You're still going to have individualist jerks like me driving '73 Beetles around, so you can't really raise speed limits to the point where the new Honda drivers want them.