More like no track work. BNSF has taken all their overhead traffic off the line, there's not much local shipping, and BNSF does not want to pay to keep the line at 79MPH standard. Rail is about at the end of it's useful life, all jointed, and there's need for ballast and tie work also. The railroad basically told Amtrak they could either move over to the Transcon (main southern route), pay to maintain the line to higher speed, or accept 40MPH running which is all BNSF feels they need for limited local use. The track has been rough for several years now, and if memory serves me right, it was just earlier this year that an inspection run at track speed by the railroad resulted in a number of significant slow orders. I'm not sure if Amtrak has revised the schedule to take the lower speeds into account yet, but I definitely have not heard anything about funding to improve the track. Not holding my breath exactly either.
At the Trains open house a year or so ago, several people asked Boardman if there was any plan to shift to the Transcon, and he acted like that discussion was news to him. There have been several discussions over the past months on this board on what may happen, the virtues of a reroute, etc. If it does move, it'd be a shame to say goodbye to semaphores and Raton Pass, but on the flip side, it'd be fun to see a true high speed freight line from a Sightseer lounge.
