Passing-siding as “Passenger-main”

My most recent issue of Trains Magazine, April 2012, reports Amtrak is suing Canadian National Railway for delaying its passenger-trains.
Canadian National is accused of intentional dispatching delays, that Amtrak’s trains are given short-shrift.
Canadian National has railroading in this country, the product of mergers. Namely Illinois Central to New Orleans and also in Michigan.
Canadian National rationalized quite a bit. Two-track mainlines were reduced to one track with occasional passing-sidings.
So doing reduces maintenance costs, but Amtrak claims it’s delaying its trains.
Freight-trains get stopped on the mainline, so Amtrak can go around on the slower passing-siding, the so-called “passenger-main.”
When Amtrak was instituted in 1970, Congress required participating railroads to not delay Amtrak’s trains.
“Unreasonable dispatching choices” were hard to prove, so only one suit came to fruition.
That was 1979 when Southern Pacific was accused of delaying the Sunset Limited.
Canadian National is now accused of deliberately delaying Amtrak trains. —So bad, Amtrak has to sue.
Canadian National has rebuffed repeated attempts to resolve various Amtrak problems.
For example, four regularly-scheduled freight-trains that often delay Amtrak.
This certainly is the opposite of what I’ve witnessed in central PA on Norfolk Southern’s Allegheny crossing.
Norfolk Southern seems to go out of its way to keep Amtrak on time.
But it’s only one train, Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian across the state.
Pittsburgh to Harrisburg is Norfolk Southern, Harrisburg to Philadelphia is actually Amtrak railroad.
“I’ve got Amtrak coming,” says Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh dispatcher on my railroad-radio scanner.
The Pittsburgh dispatcher controls Allegheny crossing from Pittsburgh.
Plus everyone seems to know when Amtrak is in the picture.
Suddenly the Red Sea parts, and Amtrak gets priority.
Although Allegheny crossing is three tracks, and the Pennsylvanian is usually on Track Two, so -a) it can make a station-stop in Altoona, and -b) it can avoid blocking freight-trains.
Although reserving Track Two for Amtrak can slow freight-train service. A priority freight might get shunted behind a slower train on Tracks One or Three.
But Norfolk Southern will do that. Amtrak gets priority.
And Track Two is definitely not a passing-track.

• I’m a railfan, and have been since age-two (I’m 68).