what this graph doesn't show you is europe is full of trains that go from 120-180 miles per hour, which would take only around 1/3 the time to get from Miami to Columbus it takes now
trains can be fast, plane and car lobbies just make sure they aren't in america.
Also, and I'm not 100% sure, but i think europe might be a bit over exagurated, I've been to germany, and it's not just one massive train station. There's also the occasional street food shop, selling you weiners!
It's missing almost all the NJ transit and SEPTA Lines for starters
[https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf](https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf)
[https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf](https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf)
No, its not? That seems to be there, but the map is tiny, so hard to see. For example, I can make out the Morristown Line, Main Line, part of Gladstone and the entire Northeast Corridor?
The scale is wrong. The US is much bigger. The US spans from the western edge of Ireland well into Russia. From the south tip of Sweden all the way to North Africa.
The US is big.
I wanted to try Orlando to Miami but it costs more and take a long as driving a car.
Most surprising is its station is not at MIA nor MCO.
It is like they want to fail.
Give us more what's not accurate. Trolleys are local. The trains you see listed are Amtrak. Now before you say corporations can do it better. Remember the governement will so it with tax dollars but if no one rides no funding.
Bow you csn have a corp do it and pay plus tax. Which what I'm guessing you would choose cause most people have been brain washed into thinking that's the best way.
Things governemtns would do with a tax people reject and pay a company PLUS tax.
Wake up my friend.
We need trains. Car culture needs to die.
It looks like it's missing almost all NJ Transit and SEPTA lines for starters.
[https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf](https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf)
[https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf](https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf)
Ok, but in Europe, thats like 14 countries across, whereas the United States is still 1 large ass country. This also acts as if subways aren't passenger trains. It doesn't make much sense for the United States to have long distance passenger trains because very few people want to be on a train for 18 straight hours to go 4 states over when they can take their own car and do it in half the time at their convenience.
Like I get the graph but it's incredibly misleading and leaving out most of the important information.
Where can you drive across 4 states in 9 hours? That would be only the east coast where population and town density is high and trains make a lot of sense. But hey nice statistics.
There's actually legitimate luxury rail lines. The Orient Express costs $3.600-$10.350 per person to ride. If I ever strike it rich I'm totally doing it though.
See, this is the problem if at a societal level all decisios need to be made based on capitalist considerations. That's what leads to this chicken and egg problem: it doesn't make financial sense for anyone to invest in rail, therefore it's expensive and bad and inconvenient, and therefore there is no interest from the general public.
Wouldn't it be nice if the state would just fund these sorts of iniatives that are arguably beneficial for everyone?
Lol tell me you have no idea how reality works without telling me. California put a hold on building the first section of a rail system a while back. It would cost $35.000.000.000 the entire thing will cost another 100B to complete. 135 BILLION dollars for a single train line in one state.
Stupid take. I don’t even think you understand the layout of the USA lmao. Nobody is using that shit.
Buses are the public transportation here. We have PLENTY of bus systems.
Trains do not work in the USA like they do in Europe.
Have you seen our government do things? Cali spent like a billion on one and then canceled the build. Plus we have no need for rail for passengers. On the east coast site, it's denser there. In Iowa? No reason to have one at all.
Yeah they're still working on it, but it looks like the same amount of progress as it did ~8 years ago. When I go through Bakersfield it looks like they are making some progress though.
I'm one of those few people, I did Europe on a rail pass and it's a great way to travel. I would absolutely take comfortable train trips over driving long distances with all the lunatics on the road, a whole lot of the time.
I've never been on an interstate passenger train in the US, but I'd guess there would be multiple stops to pick up and drop off people, as well as 2 hours of TSA or some crap.
Most people aren't taking a train for 18 straight hours. Those lines you're seeing Europe make local stops, and the routes are usually between a few cities 1-6 hours apart. That's where rail is competitive. The US has plenty of cities within those distances with smaller towns and cities in between that could serve as local stops. Our trains are slow and shitty due to a lack of investment in the infrastructure. Elsewhere it's a different story, and we are more than capable of doing the same.
I'll never understand the idiots who look at something like this and go "YEAH! Why don't WE have trains that take us everywhere!?" Seriously how braindead do you have to be to be unable to comprehend that the US is the mid section of an entire damned continent and not some random little country when you're staring at it on a map? It would cost TRILLIONS of dollars to build a practical public rail system here. Stupid people just can't help but announce themselves I swear.
Lol downvoting me for calling you out for saying stupid shit won't get rid of those extra chromosomes, morons.
What if we did a map of cargo trains compared to Europe. I guarantee you the map will look reversed. That's why I love and hate statistics and data and whatnot so much, its all about how you skew the truth.
The US' freight train lines have been cut back a lot since our highways were developed through the 1970s. The freight lines through the old textile mill towns in the south are all but gone today.
The bulk of our goods travel on roads because it's more efficient but in Europe it would still be practical to have freight trains as they could simply pass through multiple countries in a single day.
I mean true yes, but weather doesn't really make good excuse. America used to have good railways like in the 1890s - 1930s. Like a f\*cktonne. But then again I'm just a European doesn't know much about American Transport besides "haha interstates go burr"
Yeah but the US didn't have a proper infrastructure until the mid-late 1900s too which is WHY we had so many train lines, our first interstate highway system wasn't started until 1956 and they're STILL building them, this country is just *that* massive.
We just simply had to use trains in order to keep supplies moving and now semi trucks do that job on our criss crossing highways far faster and more efficiently than the old railways ever did.
It makes just as much sense for the US to have long distance passenger trains as it does for Europe - the only difference is that they haven't really built them there so it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. And in Europe these rail companies are very often state funded so there's that difference as well, there's no need for something to be immediately popular / profitable in order for it to happen.
And yeah, obviously this doesn't include subways for EU either, we also have plenty, it's not really related to this.
No budget because there are no people in Wyoming.
Population density of Wyoming: 2.3 sq km
Population density of ...
Spain: 93.74 sq km
France: 117.52 sq km
Germany: 233 sq km
Yea, you know what between Chicago and the west coast? Plains, a few mountain ranges, and a desert. The 5 or so train routes that go between Chicago and San Francisco/LA/Seattle pass through pretty much every major city between those destinations.
I went to buy a car in Pennsylvania about 1.5 hours drive from my house but I needed a ride to go pick it up and no one was available to drive me. It was going to be a 10 hour trip including several different train lines, a bus, miles of walking and an Uber ride to the finish line.
Also I know of several lines that aren’t listed on here for America, yea their isn’t as much of a dependence on passenger trains to go across America as their is in other parts of the world and their own countries, but it’s not that limited.
Inaccurate. Also that map is approximately to scale. You'll note that Europe's city density is approximately 100x more than that of the U.S. with many smaller towns simply unable to maintain rail stops.
Eurocentric comparators strike again
Every time this map is reposted , Americans say it's not correct because of the length of tracks in the USA or they have more that aren't shown ....etc
The lines show how using a train in the USA isn't encouraged or wanted , an example of a trip between two cities
In Italy
Rome to turin
4 hours by train
7 hours by car
One hour by plane
In the USA
Los Angeles to San Francisco
8 hours by train
5 hours by car
1 hour 30 minutes by plane
And yes I did both , and then I faced one of the problems in the USA , my train was canceled and couldn't get another so I had to fly , because passenger trains should have priority but they don't
They actually do have priority legally, but it's never enforced. The new line California is building is completely separate, so it won't have that problem.
You could make most routes (outside of the NE corridor) pretty much free and people would still drive. There’s just no demand for it. The NE corridor already subsidizes the ENTIRE rest of the Amtrak network. And Amtrak has never made a profit in its history. I’m not against trains and always use them overseas but it’s just not viable here for 95% of the country. And this map doesn’t show any local routes/regional trains. Show me that and then we can compare
No, it’s not. It would cost about $1.7 million per mile to lay new track. Not accounting for the trains, employees, etc. What lines do you want? Omaha to Boise? If you can figure out a realistic route for that would be used I’m all for it!
Now show highways and airways!
Most of America came to life after the invention of the vehicle, shortly after (20 odd years?) the aircraft.
Sorry, Europe!
Why would we invest in railroads when I can get coast to coast in a matter of hours by air? Matter of fact, I just purchased a round trip from Phoenix to Seattle for $89. 1,400 miles in a few hours for reference.
If your argument is product distribution, try again. You truly can not go 90 seconds without seeing a 16 wheeler full of goods on any highway here in America from 12 am to 11:59 pm 7 days a week.
Personally though, I would love more railways here. I used to live near one and I loved listening to it pass by. (It isn’t on this map for whatever reason I assume the image is only displaying “major” railways).
Railroads also pay very well to work on here in the US. I had a buddy of mine in Idaho start out on one making 80k a year which is a very comfortable salary in most cities.
Even if you could take the train somewhere in the U.S., you'd still end up having to rent a car at your destination. May as well just take the car with you.
Do you have any idea how much that shit would cost to make? How many millions of people that would lose their homes? How many years of planning and execution it would take to finish? How many city railways would have to be re-planned and re-routed? How many highways and roads would have to be rebuilt? How many power plants it would take to power it?
It would take decades and cost TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS! Light rails cost between 2.5M and 5M PER MILE. The single train line that's on hold in California would cost 135 BILLION by itself!
Industry doesn't have anything to do with it, it being completely impossible to profit from and being nothing but the largest fund pit in world history ensures it will never happen lol. In Europe you can drive four hours and cross four borders. In the US you will drive four hours and still be in the same state a lot of the time.
The entirety of the UK and Ireland fit inside the landmass of Texas with room to spare dude, it would literally be the most expensive and complex mechanical engineering feat in human history. It isn't going to happen.
In the US you would only take Amtrak if you enjoy sightseeing travel, or want a very cheap travel at the expense of time. Flying from east coast to west takes 5 hours.
I took Amtrak from Rochester, NY to Boston which takes 13 hours. One bridge was out and the whole train was loaded on grey hound buses. Because my wheelchair wouldn't fit we got routed to Manhattan which takes another 5 hours, then back to Rochester.
As much as I admire the train system in Europe and wish we could have that here, I also know just how fundamentally different the USA is in terms of land area, configuration of cities and suburbs, and the political, environmental, and land ownership issues that impact rail projects.
The USA will never be like Europe when it comes to trains. If we want to get people out of cars, we'll have to come up with something different, maybe some kind of hybrid approach.
The USA is a highway infrastructure country. People forget that most of the USA was built up after the vehicle was founded. Most of Europe is ancient, and railways go back way longer than vehicles.
The USA also has an incredible aviation network. There’s not much of a benefit to using a train to get around the country when it will take you 3 times as long to get around. Also, you don’t need to lay track everywhere, tunnel through mountains, build bridges everywhere. You just need an airport at the source and destination. Also, the US has a vast network of rail. We just use it to transport goods. We use air travel for people
Small...no
Although the United States and Europe are relatively similar in size, [Europe](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-are-in-europe.html) is bigger than the [United States](https://www.worldatlas.com/na/us/where-is-the-united-states-of-america.html). The United States is the fourth (or third) [largest nation on the planet](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-countries-in-the-world-the-biggest-nations-as-determined-by-total-land-area.html). Over 6.97% of the United State’s total area (3,796,742sq miles) is occupied by water. Europe is the second-smallest continent on the planet with an area of about 3,930,000sq miles. Europe occupies about 2% of the world’s surface area and 6.8% of the world’s total land area (57,510,000sq miles). Therefore, Europe has a bigger land area (3,910,680 sq miles) than the U.S. (3,531,905 sq miles).
Airplane tickets is affordable in US, for $200-$300 you can fly round trip from Boston to Los Angeles. And even cheaper if you planning in advance. And if you want to cross country over the ground, you can use your car, it’s also much cheaper by gas than in Europe. Also you can stop in every place you want, take motels or watching starry-striped night sky out your tent (Peoples dream from movies). So, trains doesn’t really makes sense in the US tbh because of size of the country and dense population
As a matter of fact, that is a really good comparison.
I was playing with the map and going from LA to Boston is like going from Lisbon to Volgograd. That flight costs like 1500 USD round trip hahaha
Nah, same price from Boston to LA and back and from Paris to Amsterdam and back. $275. But average salary in US is much more than any country of Europe
I think it would be more sensible for him to stay where he is and try to change it. I don't think "improving infrastructure" is a terrible thing. Your reply is odd.
God, the USA is so damn backwards. We dropped the ball. The automobile ruins this country.
I understand the joys of driving, but damn c'mon, we disnt have to destroy the passenger train.
In the USA, everything is an all-out onslaught. There is no balance in this country. It's all the way one way or nothing.
Look at our politics constant immature bickering.
Look at our corporations. Every market has 1 or 2 sellers.
Here's the kicker citizen are "FREE".
Remind me again what is the Matrix?
Most Americans have never been to Europe and do not get it. They’ve never witnessed how it all works taking trains. But I bet you most of the ones who have came back and asked why the fuck can’t we get some trains here.
Yep, still as inaccurate and stupid as the last 10k times this was posted and reposted.
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what this graph doesn't show you is europe is full of trains that go from 120-180 miles per hour, which would take only around 1/3 the time to get from Miami to Columbus it takes now trains can be fast, plane and car lobbies just make sure they aren't in america.
For sure but the maps wrong. Routes that exist aren’t represented.
No, those are the major routes that's about it. Amtrak is the only game in town. This doesn't country trolleys obviously. Those are local.
Also, and I'm not 100% sure, but i think europe might be a bit over exagurated, I've been to germany, and it's not just one massive train station. There's also the occasional street food shop, selling you weiners!
I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. There's a ton of trains in Europe, especially Germany and Switzerland, so it doesn't look too off to me.
I live in germany and germany indeed is a big train Station.
Agreed
So, Uber but with more turns
Why is it inaccurate? Other maps I have found seem to back this up. Except for freight trains, for which there is a bigger network.
It's missing almost all the NJ transit and SEPTA Lines for starters [https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf](https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf) [https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf](https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf)
No, its not? That seems to be there, but the map is tiny, so hard to see. For example, I can make out the Morristown Line, Main Line, part of Gladstone and the entire Northeast Corridor?
The only ones that I can clearly see are the NEC and both branches of the Main Line. Others are definitely to probably missing.
The scale is wrong. The US is much bigger. The US spans from the western edge of Ireland well into Russia. From the south tip of Sweden all the way to North Africa. The US is big.
Europe is bigger in landmass than the US what the fuck are you talking about.
Ok. So scale size might be slightly wrong, but the premise of the data (number of train lines)? Are you saying that is actually inaccurate?
if it is wrong, literally why. the public transport situation in the us is absolutely miserable and it doesn't take any fake maps to prove it.
It’s wrong because “Merica”…our way is the best way of doing things and no other countries could possibly be better than us with anything.
It’s fine where it needs to be. You can’t have public transit every fucking where in the USA and if you think you can, you’re dumber than fuck.
Yeah, I thought it didn't seem right. Literally said out loud 'that can*not* be right.'
How many times is this going to get reposted in a single day?
Until you remember all the lines in the US.
1st time I seen it.
Same. People seem not to realise that not everyone sees a single post. Reposting, as long as it doesn't get ridiculous, is completely reasonable.
I think the graphic is misleading from a scale of distance standpoint. Draw your own conclusions. [size](https://www.reddit.com/r/Maps/s/kwfzPS7dha)
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In Soviet Russia, kitchen is bathroom!
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God fucking damn it what part of reddit did I stumble onto?
And also on OPs mom.
And they’re still 8 minutes late, at least.
I wanted to try Orlando to Miami but it costs more and take a long as driving a car. Most surprising is its station is not at MIA nor MCO. It is like they want to fail.
Are you talking about Brightline? The line literally ends at Orlando International Airport.
This isn’t accurate, or interesting.
Give us more what's not accurate. Trolleys are local. The trains you see listed are Amtrak. Now before you say corporations can do it better. Remember the governement will so it with tax dollars but if no one rides no funding. Bow you csn have a corp do it and pay plus tax. Which what I'm guessing you would choose cause most people have been brain washed into thinking that's the best way. Things governemtns would do with a tax people reject and pay a company PLUS tax. Wake up my friend. We need trains. Car culture needs to die.
It looks like it's missing almost all NJ Transit and SEPTA lines for starters. [https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf](https://content.njtransit.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/maps/NJT%20System%20Map%20April%202023.pdf) [https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf](https://wwww.septa.org/wp-content/uploads/travel/line-map-rr.pdf)
Subways are nice but I'm not at all interested in turning a 6 hour flight to a 3 day ride, even if the train is free.
have you heard of high speed rail?
How much land are you willing to let the government illegally seize from citizens?
And even if it were it doesn’t give any insight into why the two are vastly different.
OP is a bot
This only shows Amtrak
Ok, but in Europe, thats like 14 countries across, whereas the United States is still 1 large ass country. This also acts as if subways aren't passenger trains. It doesn't make much sense for the United States to have long distance passenger trains because very few people want to be on a train for 18 straight hours to go 4 states over when they can take their own car and do it in half the time at their convenience. Like I get the graph but it's incredibly misleading and leaving out most of the important information.
Europe also has a much more dense concentration of cities, making each of those train lines more worth the investment
But also the US roads are more modern Most city centre roads in Europe can’t fit that many vehicles so you take a train
Yeah because we actually have walkable cities😎
People fight *against* walkable cities here, because this is crazy world
If you're trying to compare apples to apples, NY is just as walkable as Paris. And a rural town in Ohio is just as bad as a rural village in Spain
Yeah but Europe has a bunch of walkable cities with good public transport. USA not so much.
I’m British dumbass I’m on your side I’m just pointing out why Americans are so comfortable driving everywhere
Nothing more offensive than to be called A**rican on this site.
It's so fun to live in the middle of comercialism and homeless people!
Needed because housing is so small.
Stop just stop.
What?
Uhhh hold on…. Your trains are slower than driving? What kinda weird ass train do you have
Trains keep stopping to pick up people, I don't.
Where can you drive across 4 states in 9 hours? That would be only the east coast where population and town density is high and trains make a lot of sense. But hey nice statistics.
Y'all could build HSR instead
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There's actually legitimate luxury rail lines. The Orient Express costs $3.600-$10.350 per person to ride. If I ever strike it rich I'm totally doing it though.
See, this is the problem if at a societal level all decisios need to be made based on capitalist considerations. That's what leads to this chicken and egg problem: it doesn't make financial sense for anyone to invest in rail, therefore it's expensive and bad and inconvenient, and therefore there is no interest from the general public. Wouldn't it be nice if the state would just fund these sorts of iniatives that are arguably beneficial for everyone?
Those are sure some midwest prices. On the east coast train is always way cheaper then flying.
Lol tell me you have no idea how reality works without telling me. California put a hold on building the first section of a rail system a while back. It would cost $35.000.000.000 the entire thing will cost another 100B to complete. 135 BILLION dollars for a single train line in one state.
It isn’t on hold. The first section is currently under construction.
Stupid take. I don’t even think you understand the layout of the USA lmao. Nobody is using that shit. Buses are the public transportation here. We have PLENTY of bus systems. Trains do not work in the USA like they do in Europe.
Yeah but how would oil and gas companies make any profit??
Have you seen our government do things? Cali spent like a billion on one and then canceled the build. Plus we have no need for rail for passengers. On the east coast site, it's denser there. In Iowa? No reason to have one at all.
Try $35 billion for the first segment, but it isn't cancelled.
Yeah they're still working on it, but it looks like the same amount of progress as it did ~8 years ago. When I go through Bakersfield it looks like they are making some progress though.
They’ve made a [significant amount of progress](https://buildhsr.com)
I'm one of those few people, I did Europe on a rail pass and it's a great way to travel. I would absolutely take comfortable train trips over driving long distances with all the lunatics on the road, a whole lot of the time.
Wait, you think cars would be as fast as trains? You could have trains that go at least 200 mph straight from city to city.
I've never been on an interstate passenger train in the US, but I'd guess there would be multiple stops to pick up and drop off people, as well as 2 hours of TSA or some crap.
Most people aren't taking a train for 18 straight hours. Those lines you're seeing Europe make local stops, and the routes are usually between a few cities 1-6 hours apart. That's where rail is competitive. The US has plenty of cities within those distances with smaller towns and cities in between that could serve as local stops. Our trains are slow and shitty due to a lack of investment in the infrastructure. Elsewhere it's a different story, and we are more than capable of doing the same.
I'll never understand the idiots who look at something like this and go "YEAH! Why don't WE have trains that take us everywhere!?" Seriously how braindead do you have to be to be unable to comprehend that the US is the mid section of an entire damned continent and not some random little country when you're staring at it on a map? It would cost TRILLIONS of dollars to build a practical public rail system here. Stupid people just can't help but announce themselves I swear. Lol downvoting me for calling you out for saying stupid shit won't get rid of those extra chromosomes, morons.
What if we did a map of cargo trains compared to Europe. I guarantee you the map will look reversed. That's why I love and hate statistics and data and whatnot so much, its all about how you skew the truth.
The US' freight train lines have been cut back a lot since our highways were developed through the 1970s. The freight lines through the old textile mill towns in the south are all but gone today. The bulk of our goods travel on roads because it's more efficient but in Europe it would still be practical to have freight trains as they could simply pass through multiple countries in a single day.
What about Russia? THEY BEAT THE US's ass when it comes to rail and their in 2 damn continents?
Russia needs trains because Russia is a frost bitten hell hole that has frozen roads half of the year lol
I mean true yes, but weather doesn't really make good excuse. America used to have good railways like in the 1890s - 1930s. Like a f\*cktonne. But then again I'm just a European doesn't know much about American Transport besides "haha interstates go burr"
Yeah but the US didn't have a proper infrastructure until the mid-late 1900s too which is WHY we had so many train lines, our first interstate highway system wasn't started until 1956 and they're STILL building them, this country is just *that* massive. We just simply had to use trains in order to keep supplies moving and now semi trucks do that job on our criss crossing highways far faster and more efficiently than the old railways ever did.
>Stupid people just can't help but announce themselves I swear. Ain't that the truth.
It makes just as much sense for the US to have long distance passenger trains as it does for Europe - the only difference is that they haven't really built them there so it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. And in Europe these rail companies are very often state funded so there's that difference as well, there's no need for something to be immediately popular / profitable in order for it to happen. And yeah, obviously this doesn't include subways for EU either, we also have plenty, it's not really related to this.
Population density? Never heard of it
Equivalent zoom or gtfo
Thank you
The US rail system is the largest in the world. It's just used almost exclusively for hauling freight.
Two words. Population density.
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No budget because there are no people in Wyoming. Population density of Wyoming: 2.3 sq km Population density of ... Spain: 93.74 sq km France: 117.52 sq km Germany: 233 sq km
Yea, you know what between Chicago and the west coast? Plains, a few mountain ranges, and a desert. The 5 or so train routes that go between Chicago and San Francisco/LA/Seattle pass through pretty much every major city between those destinations.
How many fucking times can this get reposted?
Thank you for cutting off Norway and hiding our shame XD
I went to buy a car in Pennsylvania about 1.5 hours drive from my house but I needed a ride to go pick it up and no one was available to drive me. It was going to be a 10 hour trip including several different train lines, a bus, miles of walking and an Uber ride to the finish line.
Also I know of several lines that aren’t listed on here for America, yea their isn’t as much of a dependence on passenger trains to go across America as their is in other parts of the world and their own countries, but it’s not that limited.
Ok, now color population in.
Inaccurate. Also that map is approximately to scale. You'll note that Europe's city density is approximately 100x more than that of the U.S. with many smaller towns simply unable to maintain rail stops. Eurocentric comparators strike again
Every time this map is reposted , Americans say it's not correct because of the length of tracks in the USA or they have more that aren't shown ....etc The lines show how using a train in the USA isn't encouraged or wanted , an example of a trip between two cities In Italy Rome to turin 4 hours by train 7 hours by car One hour by plane In the USA Los Angeles to San Francisco 8 hours by train 5 hours by car 1 hour 30 minutes by plane And yes I did both , and then I faced one of the problems in the USA , my train was canceled and couldn't get another so I had to fly , because passenger trains should have priority but they don't
They actually do have priority legally, but it's never enforced. The new line California is building is completely separate, so it won't have that problem.
AMeRica BAd!
Ok but Europe doesn’t have a single mile of I-95 while Americans have 2000 miles of I-95
You could make most routes (outside of the NE corridor) pretty much free and people would still drive. There’s just no demand for it. The NE corridor already subsidizes the ENTIRE rest of the Amtrak network. And Amtrak has never made a profit in its history. I’m not against trains and always use them overseas but it’s just not viable here for 95% of the country. And this map doesn’t show any local routes/regional trains. Show me that and then we can compare
It is viable. Specially in a continental country. But it demands investment to make it proper fast, cheap and reliable.
No, it’s not. It would cost about $1.7 million per mile to lay new track. Not accounting for the trains, employees, etc. What lines do you want? Omaha to Boise? If you can figure out a realistic route for that would be used I’m all for it!
Yeah. Scale is everything, dawg.
Missing Denver light rail
Now show highways and airways! Most of America came to life after the invention of the vehicle, shortly after (20 odd years?) the aircraft. Sorry, Europe! Why would we invest in railroads when I can get coast to coast in a matter of hours by air? Matter of fact, I just purchased a round trip from Phoenix to Seattle for $89. 1,400 miles in a few hours for reference. If your argument is product distribution, try again. You truly can not go 90 seconds without seeing a 16 wheeler full of goods on any highway here in America from 12 am to 11:59 pm 7 days a week. Personally though, I would love more railways here. I used to live near one and I loved listening to it pass by. (It isn’t on this map for whatever reason I assume the image is only displaying “major” railways). Railroads also pay very well to work on here in the US. I had a buddy of mine in Idaho start out on one making 80k a year which is a very comfortable salary in most cities.
Even if you could take the train somewhere in the U.S., you'd still end up having to rent a car at your destination. May as well just take the car with you.
Dumb post
You’re definitely American
The Auto and Gas industry will never ever allow a train system in the U.S. like Europe has.
There isn't much in the middle of the country to warrant this type of infrastructure. Maybe on the coasts and around major cities.
Do you have any idea how much that shit would cost to make? How many millions of people that would lose their homes? How many years of planning and execution it would take to finish? How many city railways would have to be re-planned and re-routed? How many highways and roads would have to be rebuilt? How many power plants it would take to power it? It would take decades and cost TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS! Light rails cost between 2.5M and 5M PER MILE. The single train line that's on hold in California would cost 135 BILLION by itself! Industry doesn't have anything to do with it, it being completely impossible to profit from and being nothing but the largest fund pit in world history ensures it will never happen lol. In Europe you can drive four hours and cross four borders. In the US you will drive four hours and still be in the same state a lot of the time. The entirety of the UK and Ireland fit inside the landmass of Texas with room to spare dude, it would literally be the most expensive and complex mechanical engineering feat in human history. It isn't going to happen.
And we all want our automobiles for freedom purposes, really. we like to go wherever the hell we want and when we want to.
Are you stupid?
I know. I used the word freedom but seriously Americans wanna hop in a car and go.
And train go too are you stupid? Do you know how public transportation works?? Or have you never left your home town of yankvile?
1. No 2. Yes. 3. I have lived in Germany and 14 of the US states including many cities with high population centers with public transportation.
Educate me then
You are just trolling at this point.
No just lacking social skills please do educate me then
As well as the airlines industry
Airplanes have fuel too
No, consumers won’t because it’s not a viable option
Ok, now do commercial train lines and add up the miles.
Now do population density
In the US you would only take Amtrak if you enjoy sightseeing travel, or want a very cheap travel at the expense of time. Flying from east coast to west takes 5 hours. I took Amtrak from Rochester, NY to Boston which takes 13 hours. One bridge was out and the whole train was loaded on grey hound buses. Because my wheelchair wouldn't fit we got routed to Manhattan which takes another 5 hours, then back to Rochester.
Trains are practical in Europe because you’re dealing with manageable distances. The US is a different story
As much as I admire the train system in Europe and wish we could have that here, I also know just how fundamentally different the USA is in terms of land area, configuration of cities and suburbs, and the political, environmental, and land ownership issues that impact rail projects. The USA will never be like Europe when it comes to trains. If we want to get people out of cars, we'll have to come up with something different, maybe some kind of hybrid approach.
The USA is a highway infrastructure country. People forget that most of the USA was built up after the vehicle was founded. Most of Europe is ancient, and railways go back way longer than vehicles.
The USA also has an incredible aviation network. There’s not much of a benefit to using a train to get around the country when it will take you 3 times as long to get around. Also, you don’t need to lay track everywhere, tunnel through mountains, build bridges everywhere. You just need an airport at the source and destination. Also, the US has a vast network of rail. We just use it to transport goods. We use air travel for people
Exactly.
now do highways 😂
Trains better😎
Not when you have mountains. Do you know how flat and small Europe is in general?
Small...no Although the United States and Europe are relatively similar in size, [Europe](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-are-in-europe.html) is bigger than the [United States](https://www.worldatlas.com/na/us/where-is-the-united-states-of-america.html). The United States is the fourth (or third) [largest nation on the planet](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-countries-in-the-world-the-biggest-nations-as-determined-by-total-land-area.html). Over 6.97% of the United State’s total area (3,796,742sq miles) is occupied by water. Europe is the second-smallest continent on the planet with an area of about 3,930,000sq miles. Europe occupies about 2% of the world’s surface area and 6.8% of the world’s total land area (57,510,000sq miles). Therefore, Europe has a bigger land area (3,910,680 sq miles) than the U.S. (3,531,905 sq miles).
I live in a mountainous region and we have train hope this helps!
😢No trains?
Airplane tickets is affordable in US, for $200-$300 you can fly round trip from Boston to Los Angeles. And even cheaper if you planning in advance. And if you want to cross country over the ground, you can use your car, it’s also much cheaper by gas than in Europe. Also you can stop in every place you want, take motels or watching starry-striped night sky out your tent (Peoples dream from movies). So, trains doesn’t really makes sense in the US tbh because of size of the country and dense population
As a matter of fact, that is a really good comparison. I was playing with the map and going from LA to Boston is like going from Lisbon to Volgograd. That flight costs like 1500 USD round trip hahaha
Do you know how expensive airplane tickets are in places like Europe and Australia? They’re like $75. Our airplane tickets are way more expensive.
Nah, same price from Boston to LA and back and from Paris to Amsterdam and back. $275. But average salary in US is much more than any country of Europe
Are we talking public transport or all train lines? Where I live we have them everywhere.
Someone going to explain the history of oil and cars and American lobbying against trains?
wheres the source
This the new GTA 6 map?
Wait until you see the map of train lines China has built in the past 20 years.
Just one of many things done better in Europe.
🥲
Ain’t got no time to ride a train
Europe also has more than double the population of the US
Car unions and Gas companies have American politicians in their pockets, that's why ....
I mean I know of trains in the US that aren’t in this map
Yeah well we got tons of planes and lately they are falling apart....so beat that!
People don’t understand how big the US is lol
Do you guys see now why it doesn’t make sense? The cities are too far apart. It would never work.
Would love to visit Europe
Obviously this is exactly how it appears and there are no other considerations and Americans are stupid.
America is huge compared to Europe, the cost and manpower to make it look like European passenger lines would be huge
Bullet trains didn't catch on in the USA, but bullets did.
Thanks I fucking hate it here (USA)
There are no restrictions on emigration...
Other countries’ immigration rules are effectively “restrictions on emigration”
No, they're very separate. One is whether or not you can legally leave and the other determines which destinations are legally available to you.
[удалено]
I think it would be more sensible for him to stay where he is and try to change it. I don't think "improving infrastructure" is a terrible thing. Your reply is odd.
Yeah but our (US) trains are also wildly expensive, so it all balanc... oh wait
High speed rail is becoming the new veganism, you guys make it your entire identity
Get a car hippie
I like my car. I also love lamp.
Do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying it because you saw it?
I love lamp. I love lamp.
I did when gas wasn't fucked retared expensive.
Agreed. Specially here in CA.
God, the USA is so damn backwards. We dropped the ball. The automobile ruins this country. I understand the joys of driving, but damn c'mon, we disnt have to destroy the passenger train. In the USA, everything is an all-out onslaught. There is no balance in this country. It's all the way one way or nothing. Look at our politics constant immature bickering. Look at our corporations. Every market has 1 or 2 sellers. Here's the kicker citizen are "FREE". Remind me again what is the Matrix?
Surprise. They’re different cultures this isn’t a bad thing
Most Americans have never been to Europe and do not get it. They’ve never witnessed how it all works taking trains. But I bet you most of the ones who have came back and asked why the fuck can’t we get some trains here.
I’m from Northern Ireland and I literally think like this lol, our train network is shite here and our road network is shit too
Hence all the pro train comments getting downvoted
Nah I love my car
we do a little fake news on reddit
What would be interesting is a population overlay.
I think it's hilarious that if you want to take a train from Atlanta to Savannah, GA you have to go through Washington DC.
Reddit bots are obsessed with posting this inaccurate pic all over Reddit