this post was submitted on 01 May 2026
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No it isn't. The US was absolutely full of trains by the end of the 1800s. Our map looked a lot like Europe's until after WWII, when we started ripping them out!
If only there was some kind of thing happening nonstop in Europe making their use more efficacious and strategically advantageous.
Lots of non-stop wars in Europe after WWII?
The US was built on railroads, we just ripped up and paved over most of our passenger service in favor of cars. A lot of highways going through cities use the land the old main rail line used. Basically every city over a few 10s of thousands of people had some kind of light rail service. And then we decided that every public service had to also be independently profitable. So instead of pooling transportation costs across a population we each have to buy and operate personal vehicles for everything, not just leisure or convenience.