redtexture

Private in this instance means operated by a non-government organization, typically for profit. There are in the USA national ambulance companies. They are paid by individual's (the patient's) health insurance, or if they do not have health insurnce, the individual.

They can be very expensive, with outrageous bills for services to individuals, who do not have negotiated rates that insurance companies agree to for these independent companies.

Track ballast. How come we see this redone, on some lines, especially when replacing rails? What is your take on how well track and roadbeds are maintained in general...well, at least in Canada?

Is it typical that a train-set is parked for hours with the engine running, ready to go, as in the recent run-away oil-tanker train disaster in eastern Canada?

What are the multiple proper things to do, to make sure a train does not move?

I thought I read (maybe incorrectly) in that oil-train instance, that the air pressure on the brakes was not adequate to hold the train. I thought that failsafe brakes required adequate air pressure to keep the brakes open, and inadequate pressure means that brakes will be applied.

How do brakes work, in the sense of assembling a train, connecting up a long freight train? Do all of the air-hoses (if that is what runs the brakes) need to be manually connected? If so, it seems it is a lot of labor to get a big freight train ready to leave a port or freight yard, and dangerous to have people wandering around a track switch / freight yard too.

It has already happened again.

It is happening now in China with the muslim Uyghurs.
It occurred in one form, with the forced emigration of Rohinga from Myanmar. It occurred in Croatia with the slaughter of ethnic cleansing.
It is occurring now with the unlawful separation and imprisonment and inhumane treatment of young people from parents at the border of the USA.

Talk about the career path to conductor, and your own path in the railroad world.

I understand the conductor is in charge of running the moving train-set, in supervising role, at least for passenger rail. Is that right?

What role is the equivalent leader-in-charge for freight train-sets?