Waiting for the RR Dinosaurs to Die: Prove or Disprove Assertions

Throughout these essays I make a number of assertions.  Maybe the point of this series is to do the research to prove or disprove these claims below.

Please note that railroads in the United States are overwhelmingly privately owned, for profit corporations.  They're freight companies that allow the federally owner passenger service, Amtrak, to run on their lines. 

1) My main allegation is that no brand new, never before seen, railroad has been allowed by law in the United States since 1890.

2) The Class I railroad corporations generally influence all railroad legislation and legislators through campaign donations, honorariums, and other forms of legalized bribery.

3) While the Surface Transportation Board places some limits on American railroad businesses it appears to suffer from regulatory capture.

(These two claims above make the railroad industry and government oversight organizations no different than many other federally regulated companies in the US.)

4) Passenger railroad service loses money and requires constant government revenue and government funded upgrades.  They're like buses, highways, roads, airports, and most infrastructure.

5) Although it can be heavily disguised, freight railroads also lose money.  This is why they're shrinking rather than expanding.

6) The Class I railroad corporations stand in aggressive opposition to any and all major improvements.  They would rather go out of business than allow workplace democracy or government funding of improvements.  These biggest rail freight companies are opposed to
expansion of the railroad system to decrease pollution, increased energy efficiency, and improving the overall economy for both people and businesses.

7) The only consistent funding for expansion and upgrades can come from the federal government, not state and local government, not the private sector.
a) Private sector investors ultimately want the government to pay them.  Otherwise they won't do anything. 
b) State and local government has to repay any loans or debt.  They rely on known and measurable estimates of tax revenue.  They can't create money, like the federal government can.

8) Growth, upgrades and expansion are occurring almost exclusively in passenger rail.  Most of that expansion is occurring on government owned tracks.  The freight railroad corporations don't want increased passenger service.

9) At some point railroads will collapse to the point that the public and workers will need to step in to run them. 

10) We'll have to get the existing financial establishment out of the way to build anything new and better.  The big banks are as hide bound as the railroads, if not worse.  The big banks will be running into a wall, similar to that of the railroads, shortly.