Why trains suck in America | Hacker News Reader

Why trains suck in America

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AFAIK, freight companies are currently supposed to give Amtrak trains priority. I've taken the Southwest Chief (westbound) twice, and both times the worst of the delay came around ABQ where we were blocked on commuter traffic. Presumably there is no such priority vs other passenger traffic, and Amtrak had missed its time slot.

It's not so much that cities are unwalkable (he shows maps of Boston and NYC, two of the rare cities that one doesn't actually need a car). It's that most travelers aren't going to the city proper, and are going to want an automobile at the destination. It would be lunacy to tie yourself to the train's schedule, only to then have to rent a car at your destination.

The last mile is a huge problem. Every city I've lived in use to have trams (street cars). There were tons of them. Then GM convinced everyone they should have their own personal cars. US cities ditches trams. Hell Australian cities ditched trams (except for Melbourne who had city planners who weren't short sighted morons -- now they have the largest trams network in the world).

The use needs really good city rail. If you had that, intercity rail would be a non-brainer.

In Germany, the city of Jena has ~100k people. It has three intercity trains stations (one that has an ICE - high speed line), and .. I think three of four trams lines. That's for 100k people.

America is spread out, but that's hardly an excuse. The auto industry has a lot of blame in this.

Calling it the "last mile" is a bit of a mischaracterization though. It isn't a need to just reach a single endpoint, but the ongoing transportation requirements in the visited destination.

Similarly, light rail is personally advantageous not because the trip itself is better than driving (likely it's not), but because it allows one to not be burdened with a car at their destination.

This is a really incredible explanation. It'd be amazing if the United States had truly great rail options.

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