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I suspect that culturally for Americans to embrace trains, you probably need segregation; a free class and a ticketed class with a bouncer.

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Riding the the train daily is the norm in the eastern United States. The urban density and shorter distances between metros allows it to be affordable.

The US is massive... riding the train between most cities is dramatically more expensive than flying and takes most of a day if not multiple days between cities.

I used to commute weekly between two cities in Texas and it was a 2 hour flight. (Houston - Lubbock)

i mean the Shinkansen has two classes as well :)

three, now!

As do some European high speed trains. I make it a point to book first class (or equivalent) tickets as that often comes with lounge access at the stations - which lets you mostly avoid the rampant pickpocketing and other petty crime that absolutely infests many European train stations.

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