this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023
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i want this to be real. I've loved trains since i was a toddler. and as an adult Trains are some thicc power chungus
unfortunately the only trains left are either subways or commercial rails, yes there is Some passenger trains. But can you get to anywhere in americs on one? Not today, Not the infrastructure that will take decades to build and Not the follow up on promises made promises. kept...coughthebigdigbostoncough
(F40PH gang gang) back in my day we memed about objects, zoomers be all meta n shit. get out of my my head charles!
Amtrak is still a thing for passenger trains. It's just that it's slower than flying and just as expensive.
https://www.amtrak.com
Flew my wife to L.A. for her birthday, easy peasy. Couple of hours by plane.
Amtrak?
Fastest is 26 hours and 13 minutes for $230 coach tickets. Private room for $580.
This is the core reason passenger rail has not become dominant in the US. The country is so physically large that planes do passenger rail's job, but faster and at the same price point.
Instead, rail in the US is almost entirely bulk cargo as that makes a ton of sense. Cargo trains are cheaper than trucks/aircraft and the slower speed can be easily planned for.
It's not just slower than flying, it's slower than driving in most cases.
I just punched in a random 7 hour drive in the US. Amtrak would take 16 hours and cost 3x as much as one would spend in gas to take oneself and their SO on a trip. This isn't even accounting for costs and time associated with getting to/from the station; whereas the car is door-to-door, faster, and cheaper.
Yeah, the LA flight I used as an example is 20 hours by car, I've done it, can't say I'd do it again.
Acela is useful. We have one intercity rail line that is useful, has high ridership, is profitable, people choose to use, arguably faster than driving or flying, demand far outstrips supply. also the fastest but it’s not really fast enough to be called “high speed”
My parents once bought a private room on Amtrak. When they were shown to it, they literally thought it was a closet to store their bags not their room.