The United States has more usable rail miles than all of Europe combined. But it’s limited to freight traffic only. Amtrak has to lease time on the rails, which is why it’s pricey
Also, “usable” does not mean “useful”. Most rail in the US is incredibly out of maintenance, and deeply limited on top speed as a result. Many trains aren’t going above 60MPH at any point in their journey not because of length or power, but because the rails (or the cars, or the engine) simply won’t allow anyone to go faster SAFELY.
No doubt, it is just funny to be that passenger rail is so out of fashion in the US that most of the population things the rails simply don’t exist, when they clearly do, in droves even. They are just privately owned and rarely shared.
The United States has more usable rail miles than all of Europe combined. But it’s limited to freight traffic only. Amtrak has to lease time on the rails, which is why it’s pricey
Also, “usable” does not mean “useful”. Most rail in the US is incredibly out of maintenance, and deeply limited on top speed as a result. Many trains aren’t going above 60MPH at any point in their journey not because of length or power, but because the rails (or the cars, or the engine) simply won’t allow anyone to go faster SAFELY.
No doubt, it is just funny to be that passenger rail is so out of fashion in the US that most of the population things the rails simply don’t exist, when they clearly do, in droves even. They are just privately owned and rarely shared.