The Sad State of US Passenger Rail: A Top 10 List That May Make You Cry (Or Enrage You)

Intercity passenger rail service: whether it's high speed or not, nearly every other economically advanced nation on earth (not you, Canada) has it better than the United States. And while we're waiting decades for California High Speed Rail, the Texas Central, Brightline West, and other vapor-rail, we have perfectly good track all over the country that could be used to provide high frequency, reliable service if we only invested economic and political capital.
This video is a review of the ten intercity passenger rail corridors in the US with the most train frequency, and in general it is not a happy story. Rather, it's a bit of an indictment on how far behind the U.S. has fallen, and all of the economic and quality-of-life surplus we've chosen to leave on the table.
Bonus: plenty of footage and a few thoughts on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and how we managed to build a relatively frequent and reliable rail service in what's kind of an unlikely place.
Services discussed herein (Amtrak and other):
- The Empire Service (New York-Albany)
- CalTrain
- The Hartford Line (Hartford-New Haven)
- MetroLink
- Pacific Surfliner
- Keystone Service
- Lincoln Service
- Northeast Corridor, incl NE Regional, Acela, Palmetto, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Carolinian, Cardinal, Crescent
- The Downeaster
- The Hiawatha
- Capitol Corridor (Oakland-Sacramento)
- Altamont Corridor Exptress (San Jose-Stockton)
- San Joaquins (Stockton-Bakersfield)
- Brightline and Tri Rail (Miami)
- Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit
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Twitter: @nerd4cities
Instagram: @nerd4cities
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Other CityNerd Videos referenced:
- Expanding Acela to Atlanta: • U.S. High Speed Rail: ...
- North America's Busiest Regional Rail Systems: • Regional Rail Systems ...
- Top Ten Cities for Passenger Ferry Travel: • Transit On the Water: ...
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Alan Fisher's video "The 3 Amtrak Routes that can be Electrified Tomorrow" • The 3 Amtrak Routes th...
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Resources:
- en.wikipedia.o...
- en.wikipedia.o...
- new.mta.info/d...
- web.mta.info/mn...
- realtime.septa...
- www.cabq.gov/t...
- www.riometro.o...
- www.sonomamari...
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Image Credits:
- Dutch train Video by Matthias Groeneveld from Pixabay
- Train station Video by Martyn Day: www.pexels.com...
- Caltrain By DF4D-0070 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- Coaster By GranolaBranBorg - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- Hiawatha By David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA - 20181017 06 Amtrak, Glenvilew, Illinois, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Keystone train By Dough4872 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- Harrisburg Station By David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA - 20180504 12 Amtrak, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikime...
- SEC map By Frank12, Monte17 and Pharos04 - Derived from File:SEC-USA-states.PNG (ultimately from File:BlankMap-USA-states.PNG), GFDL, commons.wikime...
- Brightline By Patrickhamiltonbrightline - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- TriRail By Han Zheng - www.flickr.com..., CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikime...
- Hartford Station By Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- Berlin Station By Brady Rider - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- Meriden Station By Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- Wallingford Station By Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- New Haven Station By Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
- SMART train on drawbridge By Nebulous2357 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
- SMart train at Santa Rosa station By Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (KZbin music library)
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Contact: [e-mail]

[@CityNerd]

Had a few comments that the Pacific Surfliner is normally 10 trains per direction on weekdays (not 5). In fairness to...me, I'm just going off what's in the schedule today, since lots of transit and intercity services have been pared back due to pandemic, etc. and I didn't wanna be digging into schedules from three years ago. Temporary trackwork (although maybe recurring as climate change turbocharges erosion) is a different deal, though. I coulda shoulda mentioned that the 5 trains per day (SD Santa Fe Depot to LA Union Station) is a temporary condition, likely reverting to 10 per day in the next couple months.

[@pureessenceofgaming1745]

Mr Nerd the surfliner tracks are falling into the ocean

[@jerredhamann5646]

Forget mastidon u need an only trains account

[@gnnascarfan2410]

I will say as someone who lives in SoCal a big issue and debate right now is that the Surfliner tracks in Del Mar (San Diego) and San Clemente (Orange County) are at risk of falling into the sea within a few decades, if not a few years. Lots of proposals to move both sections of tracks inward (would allow trains to reach their top speed grade separated!) but stupid politics as you can guess..

[@alecvinson6054]

Also, I know we're not doing comparisons in the before times, but fwiw it was 13 trains per day in the before times, with plans for more, as the routes popularity had been growing. Service had already been growing leading up to Covid. Unfortunately I'm not sure what will happen to that growth in popularity if coastal erosion continues to become a bigger issue for the tracks.

[@JeffHykin]

Just wanted to say, I'm one the ones waiting for the Mastodon link!

[@Vaasref]

Train good.

[@ianperry9598]

Car bad.

[@calvinlawn3457]

Yes.

[@wilma7038]

🚉

[@ChristianRRL]

Plane ok.

[@ArcherHarmony]

👏👏👏

[@nayanvaldes1790]

Hello Mr. Nerd. I was reading this article about Yellowstone National Park and how much money they spend on road maintenance and how car dependency subtracts from the whole experience, as well as how one Senator even tried to get a monorail built but was deemed too expensive. I was hoping maybe you could do a video on how natural parks could be less car-centric and more sustainable.

[@clayton97330]

Just a most transit accessible national park list would be interesting

[@del_rio]

​@@clayton97330 Rock Creek Park in DC would be fun to cover as it's the only one I know of with subway access. It's technically a National Capital Park nowadays but between 1890-1933 it was a full-fledged National Park!

[@granthancock3622]

Excellent topic!

[@gumbyshrimp2606]

Yes, there should be high speed passenger rail in all national parks.

[@WillmobilePlus]

@@gumbyshrimp2606 Sure, we can also put money in the toilet for entertainment. Or do we all think there are only as many national parks as the 5 you can name without Google?

[@Luboman411]

I don't drive. I live in NYC. I think you just TOTALLY sold me on a visit to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I've always wanted to go down there! :D

[@dianethulin1700]

The tap water in Santa Fe is incredible!

[@GregoryMurphyIsNotYou]

Me too! Already planning my trip to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

[@enjoyslearningandtravel7957]

Me also definitely going to fly to Albuquerque on the train to Santa Fe. I don’t enjoy driving so now this is an alternative to go to city I are on our way just wanted to see.

[@weirdfish1216]

The thing that makes me even angrier is the fact that Amtrak legally has the right of way of all freight railroad lines yet Congress won’t give them the ability to enforce it through the DOJ. I’ve been 1.5 hours late on a 6 hour train ride (the san joaquins) PURELY because of freight traffic before, and that was with BNSF, which is one of the more cooperative companies.

[@rorypaul153]

Awww…gunna cry?

[@motorizedvehiclehegemony4107]

There have been proposals that the US just buy the freight lines or even IMO, just eminent domain them already. The freight companies lost the shipping battle years ago and sustain themselves barely with transport of dangerous products and abuse of their workforce

[@jre617]

@@motorizedvehiclehegemony4107 Well, you know little about the US rail industry. One container train keeps about 120 trucks off the interstate, and rail is about four times less polluting than trucks per ton-mile. And most US railroads are profitable, something that can't be said in other countries. You'd like to dump all that to run a handful of passenger trains?

[@motorizedvehiclehegemony4107]

@@jre617 I want the US to exchange the rail lines for the interstates. I'd love to see freeways pay for themselves by charging car-ists the proper user fee for their maintenance and have rail used for strictly passenger service. Let's keep toxic spills where hazmat crews can access them easily!

[@josephfisher426]

@@motorizedvehiclehegemony4107 And expect 4 to 40x the spills? How many more people do we want employed at truck driving?

[@arbarrro]

Forgot where I heard this but Santa Fe has really strict growth limits and a demanding architectural code so it's expensive to live there, which isn't great for a state capital. Lots of government workers and contractors have to live in Albuquerque and commute to Santa Fe, which might explain why the rail runner exists and is as frequent as it is.

[@greenblattsamuel]

Tons of people use the railrunner religiously who do the commute everyday from Albuquerque. The schedule has gotten a lot more frequent and useful in the past 4-6 months. It's a great way to get up to Santa Fe.

[@jjjjjjj6137]

Any chance you heard it on 99% invisible?

[@sufpnancy]

Its called the Santa Fe Tax. EVERYTHING in FantaSe is at least 15% more expensive than in Albuquerque. Many state workers commute, its harder for othres, as the SFe bus service wasn't reliable when I was there.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, at $2.50 for a day pass commuting definitely makes sense!

[@arbarrro]

@@jjjjjjj6137 could be! I remember they had a cool episode about agtech in the NM chili pepper industry

[@alex2143]

Just want to add from the Netherlands: there's 109 trains per day between Amsterdam and Utrecht, over a distance of about 40km. Distances and city sizes are a bit smaller in the Netherlands than in some other countries, but i think it's really amazing that the Dutch train network is able to interconnect basically the entire country with frequent, reliable and comfortable train service.

[@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT]

"Basically the entire country" in this case is one twentieth the population of the USA in one two-hundredth the land area. Rail in the USA makes perfect sense for its situation (just like rail in the Netherlands makes perfect sense for your own situation)

[@hendman4083]

@@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT So even more potential customers in the USA!

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

@@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT Why does the WHOLE population of the US matter? Always the same bad argument I am so tired of. No one is asking for a direct train connection between LA and NY! Watch the video and you'll see that all connections are 100 miles or less! So the same as the Netherlands. I do not understand how people like you just don't get it.

[@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT]

@@Fragenzeichenplatte the Netherlands has population density higher than the most densely populated US state (New Jersey). It's you who don't get how much larger the distances involved in the USA are. Passenger rail is just not worth the investment here.

[@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT]

@@hendman4083 if you need to pay ten times as much per customer here, that isn't a good thing.

[@NealCMH]

Thank you for mentioning Columbus in the Dishonorable Mention. It is so maddening that there is NO passenger rail of any kind (intercity or light rail) in the 14th largest city in the country. Not to mention that it is the State Capital and the largest city in the state.

[@whoisthatkidd2212]

Ditto for Phoenix. We used to have rail service but that got cancelled in 1995. The only way to restore good passenger service is nationalization of the tracks.

[@MohondasK]

I really hope we get the Cincinnati - Dayton -Columbus - Cleveland line in the near-ish future. It makes too much sense.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, it goes the exact opposite to the point I was making about how much frequency runs to state capitals!

[@jensumayer]

@@MohondasK It makes no sense with a thrice-daily schedule as proposed. Unless the train runs every other hour (at least 6 or 8 pairs per day), the risk of being stuck in case of missing a connection makes the whole thing too unreliable, greatly reducing demand and thus destroying the economics justifying more frequent service. We'd have to subsidize frequent service like the Railrunner to stimulate demand. I don't see political will for that.

[@benstefanko2549]

Columbus resident here. I came to the comment section and found my point already made. Thank you Ray for calling out Columbus. I am sick and tired of needing to take I-71 in both directions constantly. The rust belt overall needs regional rail if it's going to reckon with inevitable population rise in the future as its relative resilience to impacts from increasingly severe drought, hurricanes, etc. from climate change drive businesses and jobs back here.

[@robboss1058]

As a Burqueño, I've been really looking forward to a video from your channel with more coverage on us since you gave the quick ART shoutout on your BRT video. I'm happy to see we haven't fallen off your radar! If you end up making that future video with an ART focus it would be awesome because there's a broadly negative perception here about the project. NIMBY-types are upset that space was taken from cars and transit advocates are disappointed it wasn't light rail. It doesn't help there were construction delays, initial issues with the rollout, and our lovely local media trashing the project all along the way; it makes it hard to talk with people about the benefits of ART because it's seen as a joke and a blunder. Our previous mayor, who touted the project as his legacy, was practically run out of town :/ But despite the reputation I see ART changing Albuquerque. Along with the infrastructure, the project also changed zoning codes along Central to allow mixed-use and reduced parking minimums. There have been hundreds of units of multi-family housing built along the ART corridor since it started operation just 5 years ago and there are thousands more units in the pipeline. P.S. Apologies for the long comment, I know you receive so many of them!

[@AnthonyValenzuela-ou9gy]

Thank you for highlighting the Rail Runner! I lived in NM when the first phase was being built. If I recall correctly, a significant reason for NM choosing rail was resistance from some of the Native American Pueblos regarding expanding the main highway, Interstate 25, between ABQ and Santa Fe. The Rail Runner has stops at some of these communities along the route providing employment opportunities in the bigger cities. Also, the route that runs in the median of I-25 into Santa Fe was all newly constructed as part of the project and featured trackage suitable for high speed rail. The glaring misstep, I would argue, is not electrifying the line.

[@CityNerd]

Yeah, I obeyed the conductor and did not photograph as we went through the pueblos. Good background!

[@compdude100]

Yeah, they pretty much had to construct a new track on the I-25 median to connect to Santa Fe since the existing rail spur into Santa Fe was way too slow.

[@Anthony-cz6lr]

Two things - 1. I was just in Albuquerque last weekend and loved the free buses. We took them all over town and had an absolute blast. You’ve inspired me to check out the train between Santa Fe and Albuquerque now! Can’t wait. 2. The lack of transit between Tucson and Phoenix is dreary. That’s all. Thanks for the great vid like always!

[@evechase7129]

I live in Santa Fe and am so thrilled to see some coverage of the lovely Rail Runner. I'm on a mission to get all of my friends to ride it more often. New Mexico also has a pretty good network of low cost Park & Ride buses and regional transit buses to more rural areas and indigenous communities.

[@JoshuaFagan]

I lived in Santa Fe for a few months close to the rail district, and it was gorgeous. A magical, underappreciated destination for anyone who loves art galleries, dreamlike adobe buildings, or George RR Martin. I did not have the chance to ride the train to Albuquerque, as this was during peak covid times, but I got to see the train, and it looks so stylish, with that colorful, curving roadrunner insignia. More trains should include stylish, playful designs.

[@areader2253]

I have taken this train from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, and it's the best train ride I ever had in the US.

[@marcusnavarra8356]

Sonoma county native, here! Smart is definitely geared towards commuters, both within the area it operated, and to SF. It does get a large share of its ridership over the weekends from tourism, though. I have personally used it a bunch of times to visit SF, and it is a great experience.

[@LexYeen]

By contrast, I've had nothing but frustration from SMART. The schedule is worse than the county busses while costing more to ride, and stations are rarely near destinations.

[@riddiffy]

No. SMART does not get a large volume of weekend nor weekday users. SMART has an average 1,600 weekday daily riders. Divide that by Marin and Sonoma County's combined population of 753,000, that's 0.21% of the population who use it regularly. One fifth of one percent! Even now, with free parking and reduced fares, ridership remains extremely low. Commuting to the city is not ideal. Nobody likes the 8 minute 0.6 mile walk from the end of the line in Larkspur to the Ferry Terminal, where you will no doubt wait longer to catch the Ferry since times are not synchronized. Commuters from Santa Rosa know the GGT 101 is always faster (even with traffic) than doing the smart/ferry. This "train to nowhere" as its called has been an economic disaster from the start. Look at the farebox - it only accounts for about 4% of annual revenue. FOUR PERCENT! By comparison, about 60% of revenue comes from a quarter-cent sales tax in Marin and Sonoma counties. Those who live here pay for it even if whether they ride it or not. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the sales tax subsidy was about $196 per one-way boarding, according to Heather McKillop, SMART’s Chief Financial Officer. I am curious to see if that improves when SMART releases the 2021-2022 subsidy figure later this year. Money Pit to no end.

[@haakenhaakensen1569]

You are the first person I have ever heard of who has used SMART. At the rail crossing in San Rafael I often see SMART trains go by with ZERO passengers. It was a ton of money down the drain.

[@Panetierre_]

Agreed. It does feel more like a regional rail line, but I love SMART. I only wish its weekend service was more frequent and that it ran later into the day. And just imagine if we built a line from Novato to Fairfield! To the naysayers talking about finances, what's the long-term plan without this? More freeway and buses and cars? I know what future I want to live in.

[@jre617]

@@Panetierre_ Novato to Fairfield? Who exactly would ride that with any frequency?

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

Some additional notes in regards to Hiawatha (Chicago - Milwaukee) - It will be expanded from 7 round trips daily to 10 (8 > 11 if you count Empire builder) - Tracks will be improved which will provide 90 mph trains - An expansion to Milwaukee's western suburbs and Madison is likely and will be a game changer - Hiawatha originally was going to expanded to Madison with HSR back in 2010, but Walker killed this and sold the Spanish built HSR trains to Africa. - One of the best on-time performance records for the Amtrak system - Highest ridership for Amtrak outside of the west/east coasts - One of the few Amtrak routes that is profitable and it actually remits money back to Wisconsin - Third highest ridership per mile for Amtrak trailing only the Capitol Corridor and NE Corridor - This route had the world's fastest trains in the 30's and 40's which exceeded 100 mph - The Chicago anchor (Chicago Union Station) is excellent and is located near the heart of its metro network - The Milwaukee anchor (Milwaukee Intermodal Station) is also a good hub with many bus connections. A street car connects this station to the downtown. - There is a station on Wisconsin's busiest airport which is handy and somewhat unique for Amtrak. You can take the streetcar from downtown Milwaukee > Hiwatha > MKE without getting into a car - People already super-commute on this line...super commuting should take off in popularity when the new service improvements come online. - Hiawatha goes over a unique swing bridge in downtown Milwaukee that is typically left open to let tall boats through.

[@wheeliebeast7679]

Union Station's connectivity to the 'L' (i.e., the metro) leaves a lot to be desired though. Just like there's a station at the MKE airport, there also needs to me a stop at the Mayfair Metra station, which is almost next to the Blue Line stop at Montrose, for easy connectivity to O'Hare - not to mention make the Hiawatha useful for trips into Chicago that don't go at least as far as downtown and points beyond.

[@rachel_sj]

My spouse and I took the Empire Builder out of Milwaukee out to Seattle, but my spouse lived in Chicago, for a few years, awhile ago and frequently took the Hiawatha to and from home in Wisconsin. He said it was really convenient not to drive and he also really misses the actual Chicago metro transit too. Thought it was kind of weird that the “Madison stop” on the Empire Builder was Columbus, a smaller town a little bit outside Madison. I’d bet that having an actual connect from Madison to Milwaukee would be very nice for the people of Wisconsin (and of course everything Walker touched back during his tenure died as a result and the effects can be felt today)

[@CityNerd]

Good stuff! You know, I should've included Empire Builder in my number. Oh well. There was a good podcast about Wisconsin HSR a couple years ago...Derailed? From WI Public Radio I think.

[@dustinshahan9131]

Just to make sure I have this right... this route had 100 mph trains in the 1930s, but is now improving the tracks to make 90 mph?!? Just goes to show how far backwards trains went in this country.

[@ptgnyc9310]

Years ago I (lived in Madison at the time) asked a friend about all the condo towers being built along the lake in Milwaukee. He said a lot of the buyers were from Chicago but realized they could buy cheaper in MKE and commute on the train.

[@ericpopcorn6607]

The worst part about the lack of the 3C+D line is that The Ohio State University football games exists and you could make the same argument that you did for the south and football. Also would be nice if Amtrak did move their Cleveland station into Terminal tower as it was built to be Cleveland's rail hub.

[@bryanCJC2105]

Santa Fe is one of all-time favorite cities!!! SMART is a commuter line. Lots of North Bay people work in San Francisco. The only way in from Marin is across the Golden Gate Bridge which can be slow. The Larkspur Ferry uses a high-speed catamaran which is pretty cool. I've used the San Joaquin lines several times from Oakland to Fresno and have always been surprised at how good it is. It takes about 4 hours to get to Fresno but that's is only slightly longer than driving. There is also a good transfer with BART at Richmond. The trains are nice with tables and get pretty full along the way. The scenery is also pretty as it hugs the Bayshore (it's just feet from the shore). There is quite a bit of traffic from the interim cities to Fresno. It's $26 and that's quite a deal. Flying would take almost as long considering getting to SFO, going through security and checking in, flying and is $150 more expensive.

[@6ixof135]

Glad you found an excuse to show footage of New Mexico!

[@matthewboog3193]

Really looking forward to your New Mexico walk, bike, and bus videos!

[@bromanHenk1]

I paid €20 for a train between The Hague and Schipol, meanwhile Albuquerque to Santa Fe is $2.25?! Damn, New Mexico I’m impressed

[@nicoshedden9477]

Its our oil money

[@OBSMProductions]

@@nicoshedden9477 No it's Gov. Lujan setting aside federal funding to reduce ticket costs and increase frequency. He partly explained it in the video.

[@m19s200sd]

Fun fact, the Roadrunner is used in Better Call Saul! But is used for Mike arriving to Albuquerque from Chicago, presumably an Amtrak substitute for filming

[@desertrose0027]

Yeah the Rail Runner didn't exist in the time BCS was set, so it'd have to be Amtrak.

[@darthmaul216]

Why wouldn’t Amtrak allow for Netflix to use their name?

[@contrapunctusmammalia3993]

In that episode, you see mike in Philadelphia telling a bartender that he's going to alberquerque the next day and when he gets off the train he still has the fresh bullet wound from the night before. It always seemed like he had made that whole journey in one night but i didn't think that was possible. But then why would he fly to Santa Fe when he could just fly the whole trip

[@CityNerd]

I know, that was the only reference I could find!

[@CityNerd]

@@desertrose0027 Good point

[@desertrose0027]

I grew up in Albuquerque and my family moved away 20 years ago, before the Rail Runner was put in place. My dad commuted to Santa Fe every day, by car. I think if the train had been available back then he would have taken that instead. It's a long commute through some pretty desolate country. If your car breaks down, or you get in an accident, it can be hard to get help (especially in a time before widespread cell phones). As for why the train is important, it's the same logic as the Empire line. You're connecting New Mexico's most populous city with the state capitol. There has always been a lot of communiting traffic between the two cities as a result. So a train makes sense. I'm glad to hear that public transit has improved in general since we lived there, as back then it was a very car centric city.

[@nathanielmackler7225]

The pacific surfliner typically has more trains. There's currently major service disruptions due to cliff erosion. It's typically around 10 trains per day in each direction. The coaster Metrolink transfer actually doesn't add a ton of time if you take a good pair of trains, and it's a lot cheaper than the surfliner on weekends. Great for a weekend day trip.

[@nathanielmackler7225]

And SMART is basically just shitty north bay bart.

[@jacobstimmel7136]

Hello from Tijeras, New Mexico! So proud as a New Mexican to watch this. I lived car-free in Albuquerque near UNM and I’ve always hoped we would get a mention in your videos! I used to ride the RR up to Santa Fe to see my aunt. Despite our rankings in certain lists, NM is a great place to live ♥️💛 Question, I’ve been told by out-of-staters that Santa Fe was the most ‘exotic’ U.S city they have visited, do you agree?

[@CityNerd]

I could definitely imagine living car-free near UNM! Santa Fe...I'd have to think about it. It is the city different, right

[@colinmcknight2590]

Oddball trivia for you:.The schedule for the legislative meetings of the New York State Senate and Assembly in Albany are tied to the Amtrak schedule from NYC. They never schedule meeting starts before the ETA of the morning train from Penn/Moynihan on Tuesday mornings, when the legislators start work each week.

[@silverlyon]

I love the NM RailRunner. I throw on my ear buds for music and watch the beautiful scenery and relax. Get into Santa Fe hang out around old town meet friends for dinner and drinks then hop back on and back to Abq.

[@The_Sin_Squad]

It's wild as a fan of the channel to see the downtown Santa Fe area in this vid! Haha, you even drove past my old workplace. If you ever find yourself able, you've GOTTA go to Zozobra next year! It's like our one big thing lol. HOWEVER; I WILL argue with your point re: the biking in Santa Fe. I don't drive, so I've relied on my bike and the bus system to get around town for the past three years-and biking always feels like a real risk. I rarely ever see other bikers around. Any shops that aren't on the plaza are almost certainly located along Cerrillos, which I'd call the central artery of the city (and also the stroad to hell). There's like one asphalt bike path along this thing, and only at the very edge of the city, right along where you'd turn off onto the highway to Albuquerque. The rest of the time bikers are banished to the stroad gutter, since you can't trust the cars to afford you even a meter of paint-designated "bike lane" space. Even off Cerrillos, if you don't wanna be brushing elbows with 3-ton metal rocket ships, you gotta ride on the sidewalk (where drivers are even less likely to see you as they turn out onto the main road, since not a lot of people dare to walk along Cerrillos). I don't even trust the streets along the plaza that much, since outside the main square you're expected to merge with traffic. And for the love of god-whatever you do, do NOT attempt to bike down North Guadalupe. There's this segment right next to Il Vicino Wood Pizza (a couple blocks from the plaza) where the sidewalk becomes maybe two feet wide (with giant poles scattered throughout because Santa Fe wants to frame my bike for murder). In general, I've never felt safe on a bike here, and I've often retreated to the validation and comfort of channels like this one in the aftermath of my latest (lost) battle with the Cerrillos traffic lights. I got the chance to bike around Missoula this past summer, and the roads felt SO much safer there by comparison, even though there weren't that many more (real) bike lanes! It's kind of a mess out here. And HOLY COW, pardon this enormous wall of text! Guess I needed to vent lol! (***AND THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL VIDEO! WHOOPS!)

[@jacobrael9872]

As an abq native I would love to see a video on the A.R.T. bus system, especially since you say it's one of the best brt systems in the nation but in town is has an EXTREMELY negative perception by most people for ALOT of reasons and taking the bus east of nob hill on central is basically seen as a deathwish as the homeless population basically hoards onto the bus and at the bus stops in that area

[@angellacanfora]

Was sitting with my mom this morning, telling her about how I was researching trains and their availability here in SoCal, moaning about how bad it is when this popped up! Thanks for contributing to my research and offering a visual aid!

[@gdrriley420]

If you want to lose the rest of a week go read LOSSAN plans and SLCOG coast rail studies which date back to the 90s.

[@CityNerd]

Haha, glad I could be of use!

[@mariawesley7583]

You're so right about the costs of college football stadiums. In the series "Stephen Fry in America" the British host travels to all 50 states and while at the Alabama/Auburn game is amazed by not only the size of the stadium (beating Wembley in capacity), but also the spectacle of an amateur sporting event that isn't even a championship game.

[@RitobanRoyChowdhury]

Fun fact -- the number of trains between Los Angeles and San Diego per day is currently zero, because of a landslide which has shut down the lines around San Clemete!

[@emoulson]

I grew up in ABQ and now live in Boston. I can confidently say that the Rail Runner is better than almost any rail service in the Northeast. Unfortunately, it’s the butt of jokes in NM and the vast majority of people still drive. 😢

[@tomasmondragon883]

Back when I was living in central New Mexico, I rode the Rail Runner often to get Albuquerque for school, and was disappointed by how sparse the schedule was, but it was a schedule more geared toward commuters who had 9 to 5 or 8 to 4 or 7 to 3 jobs, not students that desperately wanted to sleep in like me. Ugh, morning people. But it was a good train service, I just didn't appreciate how good the schedule was (for the US), I wanted it to be even better, though. The buses in Albuquerque also had great schedules on some core avenues, like Central and Lomas but outside of that it was more sparse. Looking at the bus schedules today, it looks like the less busy routes I remember have been classed commuter routes but even the busy routes have been reduced to 30 minutes between buses due to COVID, which is a horrible wait time if you miss a bus. At least the ART routes are 15 minutes between buses. Maybe some day the scheduling will return to something more frequent again. I think I remember the Rail Runner runs on rails shared by BNSF in the southern half of the route from Belen to Albuquerque and part of the route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, but there isn't much freight that moves north/south. Most runs east/west, and most of it runs on rails south of Belen. So there wasn't much freight that the Rail Runner had to schedule around, but Amtrak does share part of the track twice daily. I think I do remember freight cars stuffed with automobiles on the north/south rail headed to the car dealerships in Albuquerque, maybe also tanker cars full of asphalt or something. I also remember how much of a stink Republicans raised when brand new track was built just for the Rail Runner to get into Santa Fe via a more direct and safer route. Otherwise, the train would have to use track that it would have needed to slowed down on to 15 mph over 35 miles of really curvy track. Thank God that New Mexico has been governed by sane Democrats willing to spend on infrastructure for the past few decades, despite being sandwiched between Republican controlled Texas and Arizona. Republicans do manage to complain about corruption loud enough to sneak in a Republican or Libertarian Governor once in a while, but they end up pulling the same corrupt BS they complained about, if they do anything at all. Republicans just never seem to learn that businesses just won't step up to build infrastructure that they won't profit from immediately from either user fees or advertising money. Government is mostly a big collection of services and infrastructure that needs to stay unprofitable so that for profit businesses can actually make a profit instead of paying fees and bribes for every single thing they do and paying "protection fees" to criminals. Austerity and low taxes don't solve any anything and certainly won't drag a state out of poverty. They just need to look at Mississippi, where I currently live, to figure that out. Politicians are still corrupt here, the roads are full of potholes, and everyone except Brett Farve is poor.

[@shubdotclub]

SMART makes a lot of sense as there are a mass of super-commuters (of both high and low income) that go between Marin and Sonoma county and San Francisco. There are something like 100+ (yes, more than 100) bus frequencies (4-12x a day across 7 lines) between San Francisco and Sonoma/Marin via Golden Gate Transit. The Ferry system helps offload some of that bulk. Both Sonoma and Marin have almost 0 commercial or industrial output that doesn't relate to tourism or mining, so most workers are commuting from here. SMART is also pretty popular, they're getting an extension to winsdor and proposal to go all the way to wilits. (I wish they went south to SF directly, but that segment south of Larkspur would be extremely expensive and challenging).

[@doubleatheman]

We need a bridge or tube for SMART, but that will take 40 years to fund lol, and 40 more to build haha.

[@shubdotclub]

@@doubleatheman I think the "cheapest" approach would be going across to richmond and using the amtrak ROW for the east bay. Then wait for Link21 (if that ever happens)

[@doubleatheman]

@@shubdotclub Ohh I forgot they were considering that, It would work, and heck east bay locations would be accessable too.

[@nategelman7195]

The lowest hanging fruit is building more dense TOD Housing around SMART Stations. Would boost ridership a great deal.

[@doubleatheman]

@@nategelman7195 Sac Rt in Sacramento is doing just this now out here. Smart could, but the people that live in Sonoma/Marin don't want loads of affordable housing/TOD typically.

[@professorquarter]

Personally, I've only ever used SMART as an intercity line to get me most of the way to Healdsburg. It's being expanded up North despite no connectivity to many North Bay bedroom communities, so I'd imagine it's more for people like me rather than commuters.

[@TohaBgood2]

There are a ton of commuters too. They're coming back slowly because SF is still pushing in the work from home an hybrid direction. But that's just because techies are less replaceable and have more leeway from their employers. Little by little the managers are herding them back to the office so SMART is becoming a commuter line again.

[@finnrummygaming]

Better Caul Saul took place between 2002 and 2008, so a majority of the series occurred before the RailRunner's opening in 2006.

[@drdewott9154]

Man this really just makes me appreciate my own home country of Denmark, even if people here constantly give the railways a ton of flag. Heck especially because we have a city pair very similar to that served by the RailRunner. That being Copenhagen to Odense. Copenhagen has around 800k living in its municipality (not counting the suburban municipality) and Odense has 205k in its municipality which covers the whole city. And the 2 cities are 87 miles apart as the crow flies. But the city pair has over 50 trains a day, and has at least 2 trains per hour between the 2 at most times of the day. Its not high speed either but the fastest Lightning train services take just 1 hour and 10 minutes to make the trip at a max speed of 112mph (compared to around 1 hour 40 minutes on the slower Intercity service), with plans underway to updrade the line to 125mph and shorten the journey time down to an hour flat. And the train is also very busy too. Heck due to the price of housing in Odense being half that of Copenhagen, its not uncommon to find long distance commuters who live in Odense and take the express train all the way to Copenhagen for work and back out again the other way. Then again the route also crosses a toll bridge which makes the train trip much more economically viable which is a big deal for trains. Its one of the few routes here where trains are the dominant mode of travel. Also goddamn New Mexico is an absolute chad on transit politics. Low fares during covid AND extensions of it into the fuel crisis! Heck the opposite is happening here. The only measure to increase ridership on transit here during covid was a one week nationwide transit pass that one could get for around 50 bucks. But because signing up for one required a danish specific 2fa system the whole thing was only available to Danish citizenships. And now with the rising fuel prices, the politicians haven't given transit agencies the relief funding for covid and fuel prices they asked for, now forcing them to increase prices by 5%. And the prices were already absurdly high, to the point where it in most cases is still far more economic to drive than to take transit. But the good thing I guess is that inflation is up 13+% so a 5% increase in ticket prices is technically a reduction compared to the prices of everything else. Even if no one's wages have gone up. Would love a video on the ART BRT. And man those train hating criticisms really annoy me, its what I hear so often from the right wing here, who will literally only approve transport infrastructure (that isn't highways) if its "Socio economically profitable" or "it pays itself back costing the tax payer nothing". They've already caused massive reductions in our transit services over the last 20 years, with people all over the country losing faith in public transit as a whole, while the primary left wing party is doing close to nothing! All while all the other left wing parties supporting their majority are screaming at them to get moving and do some transit positive policies.

[@soundsokf]

I'm always challenging folks to find two cities anywhere in the world, less than 150 miles from each other, each more than 1M pop, that are worse connected by intercity public transportation than Austin and San Antonio.

[@soundsokf]

ok now I learned about Phoenix and Tucson, yikes

[@BenriBea]

fr Txdot is so incompetent it makes me mad like instead of widening the already worlds widest freeway again and displacing thousands, maybe do something useful with our tax dollars for a change.

[@paulizi6113]

León/Guadalajara/Aguascalientes, Mexicali/Tijuana and Saltillo/Monterrey just have private buses operating between them, while being the industrial leaders of the country, but the federal government decided that the sparsely populated Yucatan peninsula was a better place to invest in rail.

[@bennyg2688]

Even my hometown of york, PA (population < 45,000) runs 6 daily express buses between baltimore and harrisburg, with a connection in the middle in york. One of the smallest cities provides better transit that giant metro areas

[@kurtisokc]

I give you Oklahoma City and Tulsa

[@ryanfitzalan8634]

Gotta love it!, its funny that you mention this because CNBC or MSNBC just did a video on the cost and status of rail in America. They mentioned as you did, that legally the freight companies are suppose to give commuter lines priority, but that the Federal department of justice has chose not to enforce the law since 1979....and we like to think they are a non-political branch of the government....anyway, my topic suggestion for you should you choose to accept it. "best way to do rail? Public, Private, hybrid?"

[@thelorax4236]

Just in case you didn't know, the Empire Service will increase its service between New York and Albany to 12 trains per day per direction starting December 5th. Great video!

[@tylerthelen485]

How so? It'll be 7 Empire Services, then 1 each of the Maple Leaf, Lake Shore Limited, Ethan Allen Express, & Adirondack. That's 11

[@thelorax4236]

@@tylerthelen485 There should be 8 Empire Services. I checked on Amtrak's website.

[@RMTransit]

Excellent video as always, many trains but not many good trains😥

[@schalitz1]

I just got back from Denmark last week, and the trains there, from an American perspective, were remarkable. In Copenhagen S-trains, which is their commuter rail, ran every 10-16 minutes off peak. It made it incredibly convenient to get to places outside of Copenhagen proper. Completely unheard-of in North America, even in out largest cities like LA, NYC, and Toronto.

[@UnPolacoLoco]

Hey Ray, European here, living around Larkspur (close to the #2 of the list SMART service. And btw, there was no#1 on your list, you just ended with #2 😢). It’s absolutely amazing, new funding got thrown their way a few years ago; we’re fighting lots of nimbys complaining about the “noise pollution of trains”, while they all live next to the highway… Anyway, one BIG fuck off with the smart train is that the starting station (LARKSPUR) has no direct bus connection (there is a bike path tho). Meaning, if you want to leave your car behind, you need to walk around 3/4 mile to/from the nearest transit stop. Awful

[@itsurboizman9230]

I really think that a good intercity rail line between Denver and Colorado Springs would be really beneficial for both cities and place in between, taking traffic off of 25 would be extremely nice, but who knows if that will ever happen

[@wheeliebeast7679]

I've never even lived in Colorado but even to me that's made too much sense. Although I'd suggest a full-blown Pueblo to Cheyenne route.

[@itsurboizman9230]

@@wheeliebeast7679 that would be good too, hitting fort collins or greeley would be great

[@alechagen6291]

The fact that intercity commuter rail services commenced in both Utah and New Mexico in 2008 while Colorado STILL doesn't have an equivalent service (and might not until the 2040s) is majorly depressing. There are a number of factors that have come together to put Colorado in this sorry state of affairs, including poor FastTracks planning in the 2000s, TABOR, and an "all-or-nothing" mentality that doesn't accommodate the possibility of starting small with a 5-6x daily service on the freight corridor. And in my experience, CO very much attracts a certain limousine liberal demographic that claims to care about sustainability, but is way too individualistic and impatient to even consider taking mass transit.

[@warrenparker7002]

Grew up in Albuquerque and I used to hate the transit there, then I moved to Portland, Maine and now I am soooo happy I got to experience good transit. Also would love to see a vid on ABQ!

[@jake79heiser]

Santa Fe is very expensive to live in but it's the state capital and many people who work for the state live in ABQ. The Railrunner is caters to these workers. I used to live in Santa Fe and always wished the schedule worked better for going to Albuquerque and it's airport/sunport.

[@jarjarbinks6018]

9:55 the fact that this hasn’t been done for the sounder south/cascades line from Seattle to Tacoma and on to Lakewood is a damn shame. The railroad has so much potential for all day service

[@Goodtimenotalongtime]

New Mexico isn’t the greatest at much but this is where they lead by example! 👏 👏 You should definitely do a video on their bus system.

[@THE_BATLORD]

SMART is built on the former Northwest Pacific line which also terminated at a ferry depot, though back in time it was in Sausalito. SMART came about due to demand from locals asking for some other way of traversing area that wasn't the notoriously congested 101 freeway. the Northwest Pacific ROW was slated to have BART constructed in the initial design doc for the system but was nixed when the entire north bay opted out of the charter by way of popular vote. For the 1500 daily riders that use the system it does offer an alternative to driving. They do plan on expanding east by rehabing other disused rail ROW that exist in napa and solano counties but the already dismal ridership it does have means that if any of that is going to happen within any of our lifetimes it needs the funding.

[@johndavis4233]

I've ridden the smart a few times, mostly as a commuter to and from Petaluma. Its almost always empty, but is a great alternative for driving.

[@mitchbart4225]

SMART only opened in 2017. It was designed to serve Marin/Sonoma commuters to SF. All commuter-based transit services serving SF are having a tough time recovering from the pandemic due to the high level of continuing "work from home" in the Bay Area!

[@THE_BATLORD]

@@mitchbart4225 True, but SMART's peak daily ridership was in 2018 when they did free fares and that netted a whopping... 4,735 people riding the train. For reference the ACE train gets this ridership on 4 trains ppd in 2021 and SMART runs 4x as many trains.

[@nategelman7195]

Feel like the key for SMART Ridership is building more Transient Oriented Development. There's not enough dense housing development near the stations.

[@haakenhaakensen1569]

@@johndavis4233 I agree that it is nice to have a train to yourself when someone else is paying.

[@andrewlindstrom9599]

I've taken the Hiawatha, and it's definitely popular. It's so popular, that I think it makes Milwaukee the second most popular train station in the Midwest. Lack of frequency probably has something to do with the Wisconsin DOT being pretty anti-train historically with absolutely toxic state politics. The fact that Wisconsin abandoned the Chicago and Northwestern mainline from Milwaukee to Madison is awful - and will make updating the Chicago - Twin City corridor even more difficult. And don't get me started about Scott Walker giving the federal money back for expanding Amtrak service to Madison back in 2009ish

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

Hiawatha traffic doubled when they went to 7 round trips a day. The planned 10 round trips and increase in the travel speed should make super commuting viable on this line. Hopefully the talked about expansions to Madison go through...this has so much potential!

[@andrewlindstrom9599]

@@AaronSmith-sx4ez Yeah, the Hiawatha is a good service - but need to convince the Wisconsin DOT to actually care about intercity rail for once. If service to Madison actually gets going, it should be relatively easy from Milwaukee - since the state owns the tracks that Wisconsin & Southern runs on from Milwaukee to Madison, it's just not as direct a route as the old C&NW line was.

[@bano363]

Ah Wednesday, the day that I can always look forward to CityNerd exasperatedly pleading with me to 'make it make sense'

[@drproteus9102]

Topic suggestion...All the hurdles associated with rail. I was on the train once (Seattle to Portland) and the director of Amtrak (or something like that, it was a while ago but he was a high ranking suit I know that.). He was talking about all the issues with getting train service through all the local municipalities and fighting with freight. Why does Amtrak not enforce its right of way? Why doesn't Amtrak work with municipalities to let them go faster. At the time he said most the trains can do 100 miles per hour but most municipalities will only let them go 50 and some will only let them go 30. He said each city can dictate speed. For example just in the seattle area alone they have to deal with Seattle, Tukwilla, Kent, Aubern, Tacoma, Algona and more. Thats all within 40 miles of Seattle. It doesn’t make any since. The point I am trying to make is that the real issue for fast reliable train service is not just nicer trains!

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

I would be curious to know more about this too. I think there are a lot of hidden bottlenecks that rail faces that the public doesn't know about. The speed limits in cities I think are often set too low. If the train doesn't run at night, then noise IMO shouldn't be a factor in throttling speed. If there are at-grade crossings, then that should an excuse to cap those roads or construct highway overpasses over the rail lines.

[@maxbuskirk5302]

There's a track closure on a section between LA and San Diego right now, so capacity is limited by the number of buses Amtrak can operate through the closed section, reducing it to 5 per day. Pre-COVID it was 13 per day, and they're planning to operate 11 per day after the track is reopened.

[@kevinconrad6156]

Any idea on when it will be fixed?

[@JuanWayTrips]

@@kevinconrad6156 The latest news this week is not until February 😔 My hope is that they're building it to last longer so this doesn't become a yearly issue.

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@JuanWayTrips Given rising sea level, it may become so. Hope the inland route with tunnel gets built in one decade instead of five.

[@RichardGreen422]

I was going to mention this,. I love this train--and if they could get the travel time down from 3 hours to 2 (which is not even Acela speed), I am pretty sure there would be sufficient demand to have service every 1/2 hour.

[@expiredmilk....8917]

@@RichardGreen422 they’re working on other improvements to the corridor by moving the tracks more inland to give a straighter alignment (and plus less erosion) and I think once they finish all of that work it’ll drop to 2 hours 20-30 from the current 3, but the proposed HSR link will be 90 minutes when it finishes in like 2045 or something

[@thebravesirrobin.]

2:06 According to a recent CNBC video, the law giving Amtrak trains priority over freight doesn't do anything because it's practically unenforceable. It seems certain provisions have been deemed unconstitutional, and only the Attorney General, not Amtrak itself, can bring the officially-termed "host railroads" to court over it. It's pretty amazing how many poison pills get written into seemingly pro-transit public policy.

[@starventure]

If FRA was held to same standards as FAA, the freight railroads would think twice about screwing Amtrak over.

[@kb_100]

All railroads should be nationalized. Privatize the rolling stock and services and charge a fee to use the tracks. The present situation with private railroads is so dumb.

[@rorypaul153]

@@kb_100you mean….nationalize railroads that the private companies built? They’d gladly accept that as long as the government upkeeps them and pays the demanded price.

[@kb_100]

@@rorypaul153 yes. Nationalizing the lines will allow new private operators to develop new services. Those companies would only need to buy their own trains. The barrier to entry will be infinitely lower than having to build their own tracks. There are many new private rail operators in Europe now because the tracks are nationalized and available to all.

[@rorypaul153]

@@kb_100 MY POINT IS THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD HAVE TO BUY THE TRACKS. And this particular government is already in $31 trillion of debt…..

[@clutterkase]

thanks for highlighting the roadrunner. as an old abq kid i had so many field trips that were dependent on the roadrunner. it was reliable enough for my sister to take weekdaily to an old engineering internship up there as well.

[@skimastersam]

Hey Ray, the LA-SD corridor actually normally has more frequencies but is currently reduced due to track work. There are 10 daily round trips on the full schedule.

[@trashrabbit69]

Which ironically, although depressing as well; is due to climate change and the increased sea erosion of the coast hugging track of the Surfliner route. I won't be surprised when similar lines like the old Cascades route start to see similar effects soon, if not already. Got the bypass reopened again, so that's at least a relief?

[@amvin234]

@@trashrabbit69 hard to quantify the contribution of climate change, as cliff erosion is a normal part of the geology in these regions. that being said, climate change is probably likely to be speeding it up. regardless, perhaps building train tracks on top of cliffs that were known to erode on fairly rapid timescales was a bad idea... views are great though lol

[@steemlenn8797]

10 per day is also what my birth city of 30K connects to the 200K state capital. DIREKT (and slow) connection, you can also do the main line for quite a bit more money and distance. In 2 directions btw, but let's ignored that, it's once per hour service (except deep night). So a 30K+200K city with 30 miles between them is connected by 30 trains daily (though effectivly it's own to the 20 since they meet in this city). And Great #Merica does not get this frequency between cities of millions?

[@trashrabbit69]

@@amvin234 True... but the rate has been accelerated in recent years, another major factor has been stronger ENSO cycles which mean more potent currents that eventually lead up to erosion from waves and such. Not the most prudent decision, but hey; the line is over 80 years old after all lol.

[@amvin234]

@@steemlenn8797 cool. look, I'm not gonna sit here and argue that American transit is better (it's definitely not), but what train system is connecting cities of 200K and 30K with 10 round-trip trains? unless train capacity is smaller than usual or at least one of those cities happens to be en route between larger cities in a transit corridor. if that's the case you can pick out smaller cities between San Diego and LA that also technically have lots of trains per day given their size in a vacuum. btw, the way trains were counted here were also 2 directions; so normal service between San Diego and LA is 13 round-trips; i.e. 26 total trips. Also, the whole "Great #Merica" is a bit of unnecessary condescension that rubs the wrong way. The US, for better or worse (worse), doubled down on the car starting in the 50s back when Europe didn't even have the luxury of that choice. We're still dealing with the consequences, but there are a lot of good people working and making progress to reverse the damage.

[@MrKerbywilkes]

@CityNerd your Steely Dan reference was perfect, thank you for that!

[@dianethulin1700]

Regarding the Santa Rosa line; first of all traffic is a nightmare there in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Many people who live North of the Golden Gate Bridge rely on public transit to travel to San Francisco or Marin. For example patients in need of specialized medical care. Another factor is the politics. Marin has been criticized as being elitists who don’t provide enough for transit. They voted down a train for years. It was finally approved and implemented. You can also take Golden Gate transit into SF or even bike in. It provides greater value than can be seen by numbers alone

[@monica012077]

Just wanted to add some comparison for the 6th place candidates: Rail Runner service is 97 miles long and takes 2 hours 26 min to complete. Empire Service is 141 miles long and takes only 2 hours and 23 min. That being said I really want to visit Sante Fe now! Also Empire Service along the Hudson River Valley is pretty scenic, especially in the fall.

[@stanfordsweird4607]

The Front Runner in Utah is pretty interesting also, it goes from Provo to Ogden and stops by Salt Lake. I know a lot of people who use it since it is way more convenient than driving. The second floor gives amazing views.

[@chronoflect]

Glad you enjoyed your trip to NM. I loved using the rail runner when I lived there, and I hope they expand it one day.

[@wm-nu1yf]

Haven't ridden the Brightline, but the TriRail in South Florida is pretty good. I'm 3 miles from a TriRail station near West Palm and I can easily take a train to either the Ft Lauderdale or Miami airports if I have to fly anywhere. I can also catch the MetroRail at the Miami airport if I want to go downtown. The service is pretty good, but nothing about it would be as bad as having to drive on I-95 through Broward or Dade counties.

[@schmoab]

New Mexico is absolutely a top-5 destination in the United States. It’s especially great if you take your bike along. I haven’t done the Rail Runner (because I always visit by car), but will have to try it some weekend soon. Colorado needs a Fort Collins-Pueblo line and Denver-Aspen. I do at least see the Zephyr pretty often, as it follows I-70 and runs very near my house. It just happens to miss most of the ski resorts. But Boulder is going to wait 50 years for a train thanks to the freight operators owning the line they need.

[@maddiekits]

The weird speed zones I think are the main reason the road runner goes much slower than car, it goes as fast as 90mph, but then goes like 30mph miles away from some of its city stops on straight good quality track. Also the wifi being broken for years is pretty annoying 😒

[@charlessandoval3382]

Well you gotta give the bad drivers and drunks time to get clear of the tracks.

[@bobsykes]

Featuring a really cool, walkable town, or towns in this case, in the middle of another topic is an awesome idea! I would enjoy an entire series built around that theme.

[@Alex-ky4bv]

As mentioned the Surfliner has reduced service because of the cliffs near San Clemente which may not get repaired until February. The cliffs at Del Mar also cause similar cancellations. And generally there are a a bunch of track oddities which makes the service slow but p

[@coasterjaz89]

I’m glad you enjoyed Albuquerque. I actually grew up in the area back in the 90s! I have an older bro that still lives there, so I’m always visiting. I really need to check out the Roadrunner Line next time I’m there, you sold me on the Santa Fe rail depot’s adjacent craft beer. Anyway, great video!! I also enjoyed that you gave a shoutout to Phoenix and Tucson desperately needing an intercity rail service.

[@UncommonElevators]

The NMRX is a personal favorite of mine. I rode it as a kid when it opened. If they ever expand their fleet they should buy DMU trains. The roadrunner livery on a stadler flirt would look cool as hell.

[@lohphat]

The Larkspur, CA is a lot of SF/Silicon Valley commuters who live in Marin and have to get to work at least one day a week without having to get into a car. There's no chance of a rail link over the Golden Gate or a tunnel due to the depth of the strait. Maybe if they run trains over the Richmond bridge perhaps since the bay is shallow there to facilitate an additional rail bridge. Driving down 101 over the GG getting through the city and/or 19ave to hit 280 to points south like Palo Alto or Cupertino means a LONG time in a car not being able to work via a hotspot or onboard wifi.

[@mitchbart4225]

Thats why Marin County opted out of BART participation during planning in 1962.

[@lohphat]

@@mitchbart4225 There was the option of running BART train on a lower deck of the GG or on the Richmond bridge extending the Richmond (red) line but back in the 1950s when the BART taxes were levied in the east bay (Concord, Antioch, etc.) the population in Marin was much smaller and it wasn't the overflow population center it is now. Those who can't afford to live in SF, the peninsula, or the east bay, have to go north or northwest towards Vacaville (which is also overflow housing for SF as is Dublin/Pleasanton and points east like Livermore and Tracy).

[@bethloomis8961]

Visited Albuquerque last year. The woman I was visiting with told EVERYONE how I had taken the city bus to Wal-Mart. She acted like I had put my life on the line. Yeah, there were homeless folks on the bus. Yeah, I walked through what looked like an area where folks were living in their cars. No one said, "Boo" to me, and I didn't have any problems.

[@pfmrodino]

People who don't take transit enthusiastically talk about it.

[@flanadu]

There's a definite stigma around buses that somehow most train lines seem to miss. Though if you talk to RTD W Line riders here in Denver they have horror stories about people smoking meth/fentanyl/whatever on the trains.

[@RickTroutner]

I was waiting for the tri-rail brightline mention. My car has been at a shop for the past month so I've been using the tri-rail to visit my girlfriend in West palm. For a place that has historically horrible public transport I was pretty impressed with the tri-rail. I took the brightline once buts it's pricier and you have to buy a preset ticket which goes up in price if you book less than 2 days before departure. Tri-rail is atleast half the price ($8.75 for miami to west palm compared to $15 which is the cheapest for brightline). It's runs every hour and has been on time everytime I've taken in. Once you get into miami there's an easy connection to the metrorail which if it goes where you need to is very useful. For me it gets me about a mile from where I need to go and a free trolley gets me the rest of the way.

[@Mark-uh3un]

Having horrible transit is still better than none, which is the case in the majority of the US

[@jazzcatjohn]

To my surprise you were on Seattle AM1000 radio today. The segment was about how you picked Lumen Field as the 10th best soccer stadium in the U.S. The broadcaster spoke about your credentials, this channel, and of course Lumen Field as well as other stadiums on your list. He played edits of the KZbin video. Quite a surprise to be driving along listening to AM news when all of a sudden I'm hearing CityNerd.

[@CityNerd]

Amazing! I grew up with Seattle AM radio, KOMO has been around forever! Very cool.

[@chrisogilvie2230]

About SMART operation, some of the factors driving this operation: 1.It happens to connect the centers of a number of relatively closely spaced pleasant smaller cities. The stations are right near restaurants, shops etc. 2. There is only one freeway ( US 101) connecting these cities. It becomes extremely congested at times. 3. Some of the intermediate stops are at modern and desireable residential subdivisions. 4. Good interconnections with the regional bus operator ( Golden Gate Transit) in San Rafael, Petaluma Santa rosa etc. 5. Clean, attractive rolling stock with a conductor on board keeping an eye on things. 6. Ridership: In addition to the normal commuters, shoppers and visitors, I have seen a surprising number of high school students and bicyclists on board. Overall, this operation strikes me to be more like a classic interurban ( minus the street running), rather than an intercity train connecting larger metropolitan area's.

[@dianethulin1700]

I used to live in both Santa Fe & Albuquerque without a car. I would have died to be able to use the Railrunner! It is so much easier to fly into Albuquerque and I can see taking the train into Santa Fe. Same with Amtrak Southwest Chief. There’s also reservations and casinos along the way. I’m sure this train is good for tourists. Also many people go back and forth between those two cities They also blew it in Breaking Bad to not feature Frontier Coffee Shop. Check out Gruet Winery on the outskirts of ABQ

[@lukedenton4793]

That was a quality Steely Dan reference. I feel like I already knew you were a fan, but it’s good to have the confirmation.

[@daveblanford1655]

Thank you for your videos. I really appreciate your knowledge, humor, and point of view! Please keep up the good work. Topic Suggestions: 1. Feasibility of overnight train service between cities in the western US. I have lived in SLC on and off since the 80s and I have always wondered why there is no overnight rail service between SLC and LA, SF, Portland, Seattle, Denver. One would think it would make a really nice alternative to flying to one of these cities for a weekend or a business trip. 2. You may have heard about SLC's plans to put a gondola between the city and some of the ski resorts in the nearby mountains to help ease the traffic burden on the mountain roads. It would be really interesting to heard your take on this. I suspect that looking at the issue with a fresh set of eyes might yield some very different conclusions.

[@Cali-707-ica]

The idea for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit aka SMART train was to relieve some congestion off of the CA-101 corridor. The train terminates at the Larkspur Ferry Terminal where you catch a high speed ferry to downtown San Francisco. The Smart runs all the way to the Santa Rosa Airport which lots of people are using as a regional alternative to driving to San Francisco Airport or Oakland. I am a member of the union who represents the ferry boat workers, and have worked on the Larkspur Ferry. During the evening commute, passengers literally run off the boats to get in their cars to hurry and get on CA-101 to because there will be gridlock getting back up to Santa Rosa. SMART works somewhat to help alleviate the congestion.

[@reddykilowatt]

Whatever happened to the intercity traffic between Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe?

[@PressingMyLuckTruck]

As someone who has gone on many road trips for LSU games across the SEC, trains would have been so nice! I’d usually rent a vehicle, and drive the whole way back and forth. Thanks for mentioning how much sense it would make to have rail between the SEC schools. Hell, even rail between New Orleans and Baton Rouge would be nice since so many LSU fans commute up to BR on game days. The traffic is a NIGHTMARE!!!

[@Maverickgouda]

I wish all of the time this existed too. Not sure what speed would be appropriate for that route. The dream

[@PressingMyLuckTruck]

@@Maverickgouda well the faster the better, but if I could get from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, then end up in say, Tuscaloosa in five hours, I’d be happy with that. I don’t know what speed it would need to go to accomplish that though. It would depend on how many stops it makes in between I suppose. You’re right though-the dream!

[@ETibbs11]

I tell you what, I haven't lived in Albuquerque for a long time now, but the new seats on the RailRunner look great! They used to be terrible haha.

[@jstephens2758]

You mentioned Empire Service from New York City to Albany. There are 10 trains but they include the Lakeshore Limited to Chicago, the Maple Leaf to Toronto, and the Ethan Allen to Burlington Vermont. Two other trains continue on to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, stopping at other cities in New York. There were more trains before COVID and we are hoping they will be restored.

[@Mrbeahz1]

I liked your "Deacon Blues" quote!

[@nategelman7195]

I can speak on SMART a bit since I grew up in the area. With Marin housing prohibitively expensive and in limited supply, there are many workers who work in the county who live in comparatively cheaper Sonoma County. For many riders coming from Sonoma County, their end terminus is not San Francisco but rather job centres in Marin such as Marin Civic Center, Downtown San Rafael or Larkspur. For Marin Residents, ridership is more geared towards weekend trips into Sonoma County / Wine Country. All that said, ridership is fairly weak and could benefit a lot from more TOD around the stations.

[@TohaBgood2]

I don't think the Marinites will accept any TOD. They're in full "pretend to be a hippie while sitting on a $3 million house with Bay views" mode. A ton of hypocrites in those parts.

[@ajrothBU09]

Former Santa Rosa resident here. Marin won’t allow the train line through their special city (but they’re fine with an 8 lane highway) so we’re left with the train/ferry bullshit, which no one from Santa Rosa is interested in using for commuting and SR has wanted a train into SF for decades

[@fake123]

The San Joaquins Service between "Stockton and Bakersfield" actually branches to go to either Oakland or Sacramento, rather than stopping in Stockton. There's a thruway bus connecting on to Los Angeles from Bakersfield. What you're really seeing is the latent demand for high speed rail in California. Enough people are willing to do the nine hour train journey between NorCal and SoCal - one that requires the final two hours take place on a Thruway bus - to warrant running that many trains.

[@lukec.872]

The SMART line is a commuter line similar to what you said about Stockton to Dublin, ACE. For SMART you may be able to choose in Larkspur to transfer to Golden Gate Bus or the ferry to get to SF.

[@ozgirl45]

Great video! Anything to do with trains is always good! And I really want to take that train in Albuquerque - great equipment and amazing scenery. As a Canadian I’m embarrassed that our passenger rail system is not better. I take the train from Montreal to Toronto as a personal preference to flying but a 5 hour trip is really ridiculous compared to just over an hour for a flight.

[@DavidCiani]

Yeah... You'd have thought having the vast majority of your population neatly distributed in a linear and relatively flat corridor would make rail a no-brainer.

[@ozgirl45]

Agree. I don’t see that adding a dedicated passenger rail line for high speed trains would be difficult. I’d be happy to see my tax dollars spent on that.

[@oceaniafrontier6923]

the only time I ever experienced the Rail Runner to max capacity was during a local holiday called Zozobra (where they burn a giant 90' mascot). It felt like NYC at rush hour except everyone was drunk. All seats filled and people barely had room to stand. There were even people in the bathrooms just to get on board. What a memory.

[@jimspies2775]

The saddest Amtrak situation, in my opinion, is Cleveland OH. Right in the middle of DC-CHI, or NY-CHI. A metro area of 3.5M, if you include Akron. And you can catch a train at 2am and 5am. That's it.

[@connorhalleck2895]

I'm from Sonoma County (although I live in LA now). People live in Sonoma County and work in Marin, so I believe it's mostly a commuter rail. I tell my family and friends who live there to use it but they always find excuses to get stuck in terrible traffic instead. Some people do take it to the Larkspur ferry (my friends biked to the train to do this, and then went to Hardly Strictly in Golden Gate Park). I think the train is under used, but that's mostly because most of Marin and Sonoma are absurdly car-dependent. Sebastopol is one of the only walkable places, but it doesn't have a train station (even though there used to be a Santa Rosa - Sebastopol line like 40 years ago) and the town still has a lot of old-rail-town aesthetic (like a train station cafe and a themed bar and a restaurant inside an old train car). And the main reason they didn't build the train all the way to SF is that Marin-ites are filthy NIMBYs who were convinced a train to SF (the richest city in the country) would bring too many poors into their enclave. I personally have never used the train because I fly directly from Burbank to Santa Rosa and mostly just walk around Sebastopol where my family lives.

[@haakenhaakensen1569]

Almost everything here is inaccurate except that that we are car dependent. Sausalito, Tiburon and Mill Valley all have easy and quick bus access to the City within moments. There were good reasons we didn't bring BART over here and not because of "too many poors." That is pretty insulting.

[@sebastienhardinger4149]

Regarding the SEPTA airport line - the reason its headways are disappointing is that the line is single tracked along most of its length (was built along an old Reading freight ROW SEPTA inherited), and shares ROW with freight in parts (though SEPTA has priority). This means that 30 minute headways is close to as fast as technically feasible - the trains have to be spaced out to not hit each other. Upgrading it to be double tracked and speeding the service to every 15 minutes is one plank of the reimagining regional rail project

[@bobsykes]

Excellent stuff about New Mexico! Yes! Start that food channel. Nice to see that my everyday Capital Corridor made it near the top of the list.

[@AJohnSmith]

Phoenix has the Lightrail system which is expanding further north and west, as I recall, when I moved. Great for students and people who work downtown.

[@skiandbike131]

Hi Ray, love the video! Maybe could be worked into a topic, I'm always amazed how much more walkable Mexican cities are than American cities, even comparing cities right across the border. There's some great examples of this and it really shows the impact of zoning here in the states

[@TheJahbrother]

Just considering applying for a job in Albuquerque. This video helped put a vote for NM! :)

[@jimmybuckets5863]

Iowa might be the weirdest state in terms of what Amtrak service it offers. The eighteen largest cities have no Amtrak station. The nine “metropolitan areas” (defined as having one urbanized area of 50,000 people or more) have no service. The closest train to Des Moines (the largest city and political and cultural capitol) is in a small town 45 minutes away, and there is nothing near any of the three large public universities. But you can take a train from Burlington (pop. ~24,000) to Mt Pleasant (pop. ~ 9,000, about a 30 minute drive from Burlington) to Ottumwa (pop. ~ 25,000, about an hour drive from Mount Pleasant.) To steal a page from Ray’s book, make it make sense Iowa.

[@peters8894]

My biggest gripe with the SMART line is that the stops are not near any apartments except for the larkspur station. There is very little in practicality in my opinion. Can get you to a ferry station that is still a decent walk away or a small sonoma airport. I heard there are plans to expand the line to Vallejo in hopes to connect it to BART but nothing concrete. Could be an interesting topic of how Nimby housing polices and its relationship to traffic. The bay area especially marin county are notrorius at curtailing density housing citing traffic as a concern.

[@Panetierre_]

Santa Rosa has plans to develop dense housing downtown, but yeah that's not there yet. The north Santa Rosa stop is close to some existing apartments. Petaluma's got some luxury apartments just over the river, but yeah that's about it.

[@luxembros6791]

There’s ideas for a high speed version of the Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago. It’s surprising how many people would use it.