In the past two months on a single NJ Transit line there has been 167 breakdowns, delays (60 min or more) and absolute cancellations. That is just one of many lines. That does not include the NY subway disasters.
The problem is not infrastructure, alone. It is the gross incompetence of politically appointed individuals who have no capabilities to run a railroad. They get appointed by a Governor, Republican or Democrat, and then proceed to cause abject havoc.
There are solutions to this, one is to privatize it and make its failure a criminal act. Small chance that would happen!