Why Americans don t travel by train?

While the US was a passenger train pioneer in the 19th century, after WWII, railways began to decline. The auto industry was booming, and Americans bought cars and houses in suburbs without rail connections. Highways (as well as aviation) became the focus of infrastructure spending, at the expense of rail.



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During the post-World War II boom many railroads were driven out of business due to competition from airlines and Interstate highways. The rise of the automobile led to the end of passenger train service on most railroads.

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While the US was a passenger train pioneer in the 19th century, after WWII, railways began to decline. The auto industry was booming, and Americans bought cars and houses in suburbs without rail connections. Highways (as well as aviation) became the focus of infrastructure spending, at the expense of rail.

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Nationally, a 2016 Pew Research Center survey found that 11 percent of Americans take public transportation at least weekly, and 21 percent of urban residents use it regularly.

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Trains are Reliable and Stress Free With high-speed rail, train travel is always faster than driving. In many cases, it's even faster than flying, once you factor in the whole air travel song-and-dance. And if you do need to catch a plane, trains make it easier to get to the airport.

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American trains are typically longer and wider to accommodate more freight, while European trains are shorter and narrower to allow for more nimble movements and quicker acceleration. European railways have tighter curves and the tunnels and bridges have smaller clearances.

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Prevailing railroad work rules reflected century-old conditions and equipment, meaning that crew costs were astronomical. Even the newest equipment was a decade or two old, and more often than not, maintenance had been deferred as economics soured.

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Hong Kong, China The Special Administrative Region of China – Hong Kong currently holds the top spot in the Urban Mobility Readiness Index for 2022 for having the world's best public transportation system.

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Rail systems are so popular in Europe because they can get loads of passengers to their respective destinations en masse — with much less of an impact on the environment. National governments, looking to reduce carbon emissions and put pro-environmental policy into practice, subsidize or own entire rail networks.

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1. Switzerland. Tucked inside the small but incredibly beautiful country of Switzerland is one of the most efficient and scenic rail networks in the world.

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The average Swiss person travels 2,430 km by train each year (the highest in the world), almost 500 more than the average Japanese person (the second highest).

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HOW SAFE ARE TRAINS? Trains are statistically much safer than driving. In 2020, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded 40,867 total deaths from travel, including in planes, in cars on highways and on trains.

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American railways were also built on a wider gauge (the distance between the rails), which allows for larger and heavier trains. As a result, American freight railways are much more efficient than their European counterparts, carrying almost three times as much cargo per mile of track.

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The numerous freight and passenger trains coursing through Chicago define the city as the nation's railroad hub.

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One of the most frequently asked questions we receive when conducting training on railroading basics is: “Who owns the railroad tracks?” In the United States and Canada, that answer is overwhelmingly the railroads themselves.

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Berlin: Germany's capital landed in the top spot, with 97% of respondents praising their transit system.

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