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    Passenger trains in the United States vs Europe


    Passenger trains in the United States vs Europe

    by kuntrehpandah

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    View 43 Comments

    43 Comments

    4. computerCoptor on

      Yep travel by rail is a novelty in the US, but I will say that their driving system is much better than the country I live in (Japan)

      If I want to get anywhere by car here, I have to either sit in heavy traffic or spend a non-insignificant amount of money in tolls to use the expressway.

      The toll just to enter the Tokyo Expressway is ¥2000, and god forbid if I want to drive to the mountains to go snowboarding. That’s usually about ¥5000 – ¥7000 one way

    7. Gamin_Addict on

      I mean there are 4 fucking airlines with close to 1000 aircraft, I am not surprised at all.

    10. Anonandonanonanon on

      The developed world eh? Absolute joke. Not to mention the appaling service too. People are commenting that most trains go to Chicago. I once took a train from Denver to Chicago. It picked up about 8 hours of delays if I remember correctly and I kind of got the impression that that was normal.

    13. yamimementomori on

      Although the European map is [accurate](https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/05/01/us-europe-passenger-train-maps/) and the U.S. map accurately shows Amtrak’s train map, it’s a bit unfair because:

      > The U.S. map did not include all regional and commuter passenger train lines, so the comparison was slightly unbalanced.

      > [The European map] includes not only long-distance lines, but also regional ones. In part, that is why that map has considerably more lines compared to the U.S.’s.

      Some regional lines missing from the U.S. map:
      – Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North (the U.S.’s “largest networks with a combined 136 million rides each year”).
      – The NJ Transit Rail Operations (links NYC to Philadelphia).
      – Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) (around Philadelphia).
      – Caltrain (around San Francisco).
      – Denver’s RTD.

    14. moistmarbles on

      Also might be I tweeting to note that probably 3/4 of the US population lives along those few train routes. Trains don’t run we here nobody lives

    15. Previous-Egg885 on

      Macroeconomically, railway is much more efficient than cars. Especially 3-4t trucks with one person driving. Population density considered, there should at least be a very good network on both coasts.

    18. SmurfsNeverDie on

      Definitely wish we had better transit since its preferable to driving. But id also be interested to see highway comparisons.

    21. ThunderousArgus on

      Yep. You can thank Henry ford but then we wouldn’t have cool lowered trucks with rims and airhorns without him 

    25. pieman0110 on

      Passenger rail in the US struggles with its speed, there’s not enough funding to build high speed tracks, and most amtrack routes are forced to share the tracks with cargo, causing further delays. If rail transit was fast and affordable, nobody would be taking planes across the US anymore.

    26. nmw6 on

      And please make it high speed. There is no reason a train from New York to Florida should take 24 hours. It should be half that

    28. TigerTerrier on

      Im lucky I live in one of those few places that actually has a train going through it. Spartanburg, SC used to be have the nickname hub city because we were a major junction point for the area. Now you’re lucky they have a single track

    31. Emotional-Complex423 on

      It’s a problem of population density. The EU has 50% more people and half the space. It makes public transportation easier.

      Actually it makes all utilities easier. It’s the reason their Internet is so much better than ours.

    32. Huntry11271 on

      People always show this picture. What they don’t know is all cities had trains, it wasn’t until cars and the car lobby that they removed most the lines.

    33. Asgardianking on

      I will also say that the United States has very crazy geography for railways to be used in every single city. We move more products by train than anything else. We have also torn up more train tracks than we currently have i believe.

    36. Impressive-Morning76 on

      It always annoys me cause we already have the world’s longest rail system, why can’t we have more passenger rail? it doesn’t even have to be high speed, i just want to ride on a train cause i don’t like planes.

    38. Funk5oulBrother on

      So when she took the midnight train going anywhere, there’s really only about 5 places she could’ve gone?

    41. ASouthernDandy on

      The cost of a train journey in the UK is so our of hand, we might as well not have them though.

    42. Relative_Plate2103 on

      Now put the map to scale and see how much more iron would be needed to connect far apart cities.

    43. undercoveraviator on

      Would be interesting to overlay a population density map. There is basically no one in vast parts of the United States.

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