this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2025
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[–] obsidianfoxxy7870@lemmy.blahaj.zone 84 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I expect better of the rail network in America. This is a tiny network for the size country we are.

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 67 points 4 days ago (1 children)

These poor people have such a bad rail network that even their dreams are limited...

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 13 points 4 days ago

I felt that one as a Brazilian (govt literally went "fuck trains, cars are the future!" for ~30 years starting in the 1950s)

[–] Cassanderer@thelemmy.club 23 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The thing is the rail network was pretty comprehensive at one point. Only a few remain.

[–] st3ph3n@midwest.social 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It still is, if you're a piece of rail freight.

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 8 points 4 days ago

Even for freight, it used to be better. My tiny rural town used to be serviced by a rail line hauling passengers, timber, and agriculture, but it was gone before I was even born. You can still see some of the old tracks if you know where to look.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (3 children)

it takes me 24 hours to go by train the same distance it takes me to fly 1.5 hours. and the cost is the same. there are some problems.

[–] recklessengagement@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This has more to do with how commuter trains are forced to give priority to freight trains, causing delays, than actual travel times

no it has to do with stopping at every damn town and there being mountains that slow the trains the fuck down from whatever speed y'all imagine them being able to go to like, 40mph. but please go off.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It's not that extreme, but even if we assume a 200 mph HSR train:

  • It would still take 12 hours to drive the 2500 miles from Los Angeles (California) to Jacksonville (Florida)
  • It would still take 6 hours to drive the 1200 miles from Jacksonville (Florida) to Boston (Massachusetts)

Admittedly, there's a point to be made that hardly anyone would drive from Florida straight to Massachusetts or the other way around, but the distance is still impressive.

Airplanes who fly at 600 mph reduce that travel time to 1/3rd (excluding boarding, which can be time-consuming). I did not calculate how much a train ticket would cost, compared to a flight ticket.


Admittedly, i travel 400 miles by train in Europe all the time. (a couple times every year). It takes about 6 hours in total.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If you go 300km/h by train and 900km/h by plane then the numbers don't add up.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

they got some fuckin mountains, it ain't flat. also referring to the real world, not your hypothetical