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Passenger trains in the United States vs Europe (i.redd.it)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz
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[–] 55 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

I once decided to take the train from Denver to Chicago rather than flying. Just to see the country.

One train per day.

Just fucking one train per day.

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Amtrak, and the dots in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois saw this and added just a second train between Msp And Chicago daily and ridership exploded, trains sold out. A frequent thing that they do to save money is cut trips, but it's doing so much more harm than good. They're now finally realizing that if you want ridership people want options, they want to be able to arrive close to when they want, and some may want to just show up day of and ask when the next train is.

    Here in Seattle they just added a 5th or 6th roundtrip to Portland because each time they do, ridership goes up. Turns out there's a lot of people who would rather not drive.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    To be fair, I took that train back in the early 2000's. If they've improved the service then great.

    It was a great trip, and I recommend it, but as a European I was just gobsmacked by the lack of daily options!

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Driver here! I love my car, she is incredible and comfy and has an amazing sound system.

    …if I have the option, 100% bus or train, I don’t want to drive. I’d much rather put on noise cancelling headphones and zone out and read or something then pilot a deathmobile (who, I will repeat, I love her very much because she’s best)

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Don't hate on Amtrak, they have been beaten to pulp by lack of interest and investment but still are making meaningful improvements every year.

    One of the biggest issue is that rail was privatised way back when and the cargo rail got the ownership of the tracks. This just means that products, patient as they are get priority.

    The North East corridor is getting tunnels rebuilt, added frequency. North Carolina has funded a major rail extension and so on. It's very slow but it might be necessary for it be that way to not attract attention from the GOP. Slow incremental gains until it reaches escape velocity.

    It shouldn't be that way but Amtrak is doing well considering how little help they've gotten.

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