Why high speed trains don’t exist in the USA

[@livert1135]

That’s the most simplified European railroad map I have ever seen

[@tf3655]

Basically he only showed the routes which enable 200kmh+ aka the ones suited for the full speed amtrak

[@livert1135]

@@tf3655well that only makes his point even weaker why would he do that

[@Les_MeilleursMCFC]

@@tf3655england should be basically fully covered then.

[@the_roman_emperor_fisheater]

​@@Les_MeilleursMCFCyeah

[@dogo8103]

In Europe, trains stop at many places and have to avoid mountains etc. and that's why they can't go that fast

[@Thomasmuller2309]

The map you showed about the European rail network only displays the "highspeed" mainline tracks. Obviously there are many more tracks for regional trains.

[@isaacrawlings1651]

It’s especially awful at showing all the regional trains in the UK. It barley shows any

[@isaacparadis7951]

Well yeah but it’s still a fact that the US has twice the size of europes rail network

[@Thomasmuller2309]

@@isaacparadis7951 The US has a network length of 293584 Km. The European Union (Not Russia…) has 230548 Km. So the Us has a comparable length, not twice as much. That does not change the fact of the map being misleading.

[@Thomasmuller2309]

@@isaacparadis7951 And I rewatched the short and noticed that this “fact“, that the Us network would be twice as long is just plain wrong.

[@Kamel-d7o]

​@@isaacparadis7951And the US is way bigger than the European Union.

[@craigcorson3036]

I take the train every chance I get. Not afraid to fly at all, I just really enjoy a train ride, seeing the scenery and so on.

[@doublem207]

Yeah I agree, it's a different vibe ✨

[@ElliLavender]

You should come to Europe, most countries railway systems here are really good and they can bring you everywhere

[@craigcorson3036]

@@ElliLavender Yes, so I hear. But unfortunately, travel is not financially feasible for me. If I win the lottery, though, you may expect me.

[@gravelydon7072]

@furonyxwolf Silver Meteor, Cardinal, and Auto-Train for me. But I have been to as far NW as Seattle, as far East as Boston, NOLA, Birmingham, Chicago, Denver, Glacier National Park, and Yellowstone by private passenger railcar.

[@CityLover117]

@@craigcorson3036let’s go together man😂 I’m obsessed with train travel. You get a beautiful view of the surrounding country, it’s smooth, spacious etc… flying is just so over rated. It’s bumpy, cramped, boarding is a nightmare, getting through security takes forever etc. my brother took some trains in Spain and he honestly said “I wish the ride was longer” he spent time at the bar cart socializing etc…

[@vascodagamer5840]

I believe the Acela is actually one of the few services that runs on entirely amtrak-owned rails which is why it's one of the most reliable

[@unconventionalideas5683]

A lot of it is not Amtrak owned, but belongs to various commuter railroads.

[@vascodagamer5840]

@aimeesanders680 i don't understand your good high speed rail language

[@NdaKeekz]

​@@unconventionalideas5683 3/4 of the northeast corridor rail is owned by Amtrak.

[@Radim_009]

@@unconventionalideas5683 Well most parts are owned by amtrak. The rest is owned by Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Connecticut Department of Transportation and Metro-North Railroad. Mass. and Conn. DOT are owned by their states and Metro-North is owned by MTA which is owned by State of New York. So the whole corridor is owned by goverment, some parts by the federal one, some parts by the local one.

[@tornadotaylor8956]

Twice as big as european rail network doesnt mean much when you realise that america is 80x the size of most of the countries, and texas is 2x the size of the uk

[@stevenroshni1228]

Europe is more public transit, people can hop off the train and not need a car

[@motherbeanmtb6473]

@stevenroshni1228 But you also have to take in population density. The EU is super dense, while the US has something like 5 acres for every person. Passenger trains just don't make sense in the US.

[@hectora7479]

Europe is roughly the same size as the lower 48.

[@moubhattacharyya1141]

that's why no one in the us travel by trains. atleast I have not done that nor that I have seen one. apart from big metros.

[@mathmanchris666]

Why does this matter? Bigger is bigger, why does it matter? It’s a great point that the us has the worlds largest railroad system but it’s all owned by freight train companies

[@cmilburn26]

“The Acela will run along tracks that are 100 years old” **shows Acela tracks with concrete ties and welded rail**

[@TheLegoTrainStation]

It bothers me when people say shit like that too, like yeah there's been track there for 190 years, doesn't mean it's the same track concrete ties is relatively new to the NEC right though?

[@cmilburn26]

@@TheLegoTrainStation I think they were put in within the past 20 years, so yes relatively new. I could be wrong though.

[@csnb2002]

​@@cmilburn26Yes, the upgrades started in 2009

[@governoret]

@@TheLegoTrainStation Nah a good chunk of the track on some parts of the NEC are quite old. Maybe not 100 years old but definitely looking at half a century and above. But the real point is that even though the tracks might've been replaced, they're still running the same curves and gradients that their predecessors and so it's still not all that conducive to hsr.

[@InteIIo]

​@TheLegoTrainStation you ever heard of the track of theseus?

[@centerbeamgamingandtrains7451]

This guy got most of this stuff wrong. As a Railfan this makes me very annoyed. The northeast corridor is owned entirely by Amtrak and freight is a rare occurrence and the Acela is going 110mph for about 80% of the route

[@biglad112]

"As a railfan" - 🤓

[@veryrealperson3694]

​@@biglad112ok lil bro

[@AAGul]

​@@biglad112alright kiddo, give it a rest😂

[@biglad112]

@@AAGul luuul someone got pissyy

[@WowCreativeUsername]

​@@biglad112Aww, the widdle kid is thinking they're clever :)

[@felixfun17]

the Acela can’t use the “100 year old” tracks because the only area in the US with electrified tracks, that use catenaries, are located in the northeast corridor in which the passenger trains have the right-of-way

[@jamestarbet9608]

That is factually incorrect. There are many places in the US that utilize overhead wire, I can literally look out my back window at one. Acela operates on the track it does because that is what's available in the very dense costal northeast.

[@D4cked]

Amtrak has right of way in law only. In practice rail companies will just pay the fine and give freight preference. The reason electification has made so little progress is it's an actual investment that cost-cutting corporations balk at because they'd rather chase profit while letting track rot and trains derail.

[@libra3655]

I believe most of the NEC is owned and operated by Amtrak and there's limited freight service along that. Or if freight runs there, it's going to be off peak times

[@ZA-lv8ba]

@@D4ckedwrong

[@mkay1957]

@@D4cked Good luck electrifying rail with world wide copper shortages. And besides the enormous capital investment of putting up poles and wires, the railroad companies would then have to buy hundreds of new electric locomotives, which cost more than diesel locomotives. The tens of billions spent on that would trickle down through the supply chain and the result would be higher prices on everything you can imagine. Maintenance on railroads is better than you think, but like everything else, things do break. And the number of train derailments is nowhere near what they were just 40-50 years ago. These days, there are around 1,000 derailments a year, the vast majority of which are low speed yard derailments. Back then, there were up to 8,000 derailments per year. Moving freight in timely fashion is what keeps the economy moving. Slow down freight and you have supply chain issues. And depending on what is being moved, a 100 car freight train takes 200 - 400+ semi trucks off of the road. An average of 54,000,000 tons of freight move every day on the rails.

[@NERJ607]

The reason the Acela exists is because the section of track which it runs on is in fact owned completely by Amtrak. Truly, Amtrak is not a bad railroad (their money spending choices are absurd), but they simply have to comply with freight conditions everywhere but the NEC

[@FinnishSmitty]

*ICE laughing noises*

[@HercadosP]

No, Trains are communism

[@CouchPotator]

except for the metro north portion between NYC and New Haven

[@NERJ607]

@@CouchPotator I believe you are correct

[@revolvency]

'Absurd' is the other way to say steered I guess😅

[@necjerseyrailfan7500]

He also doesn't realize most of our rail infrastructure is so old it can't handle high speed rail

[@nicholasdean3467]

Funny you think it can even handle regular traffic.

[@HercadosP]

No, Trains are communism

[@justsomeguy5470]

​@nicholasdean3467 *Looks at multiple train derailments a year because of this very reason*

[@manukinggames9770]

That is no excuse

[@tonydai782]

@@manukinggames9770That ain’t excuse, just an explanation. Obviously, it’s not as if new high speed tracks can’t be built.

[@tgv0018]

Bro finna Get humbled by us rail fans real quick💀💀

[@imhereoften]

I came for the comment section🍿I’m not even a railfan but even I know y’all are quick to put BS in their place 😂

[@kalzindor803]

My oneplus 5T is finna be 5 years old in january 2023. Damn china phone finna last forever.

[@djabroni_brochacho4644]

MOTHERFRICKINTRAINNNSSSSS

[@keycrafter7471]

You guys are railing him down, damn

[@tgv0018]

@@keycrafter7471 nice pun lol

[@SerialNDesignation123]

Actually, the northeast corridor (the acela line) is fully amtrak owned, so it doesnt have that much freighters like other western lines

[@simonfrost7094]

In the UK it's the opposite - passenger trains have priority. Freight trains mostly run during the evening and overnight when passenger demand is lowest. Stick around any major UK railway station (that's not a terminus, obviously) an hour or two after rush hour and you can see freight trains rumbling through all night. Also maintenance trains (which inspect the track) run during the evenings as well.

[@christianmoore7932]

Probably due to government ownership and actual demand for it

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

​@@christianmoore7932UK railways are mostly privatized

[@fuknrowdy]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the much greater distances that items are shipped by rail in the US. Major cities and manufacturing centers are much more spread out. It's expensive to bring the trains up to speed and slow them down all the time. Maybe it ends up being more efficient overall given the different environment. Passenger trains stop frequently in comparison I believe. Maybe?

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

@@fuknrowdy by that logic trams are even worse since they stop the most frequent in terms of railway transportation

[@4646000545]

Its not that amtrak don't have priority its that the freight trains companies don't care for the law

[@Wonder_Wondering]

Actually, quick correction, Amtrak trains have legal priority over any freight service. The problem is that when those two need to pass each other the passing track is too short for the 3 mile long freight train. So what happens is your train either rams into another, or you're forced to wait. With Norfolk Southern's incident in East Palestine, trains have been getting shorter on their tracks, and it's seeming that Precision Scheduled Railroading may be coming to a close. However, I fear that there must be more tragedies such as the East Palestine derailment for the Federal Railroad Administration to finally wake the fuck up and hold class 1 railroads responsible for their dangerous choices.

[@CTSLRailfan]

this! i really hope they decimate this dumb concept as soon as possible.

[@fatboy158]

Nationalize the railroads

[@Wonder_Wondering]

@@fatboy158 that's been a proposition for a long time, but with how America likes to function, our capitalistic beliefs dictate that there shouldn't be government-run businesses in America. I think the most real solution is for the FRA to finally bring the hammer down and knock these increasingly dangerous operations on the head. Who knows what they're gonna try after one man crews? Removing crossing gates?

[@ObservationofLimits]

​@@fatboy158no.

[@ObservationofLimits]

Let's be honest, that "incident" seemed planned and intentional.

[@MegaGreti]

Fastest train in USA: 155 mph Every other train in Europe: hold my beer

[@metalltv44]

Japan: Hold my sushi. Maglev 600 km/h and a plane have 900 km/h it’s just 300 different between maglev and plane

[@esphilee]

Even Indonesia has train that is faster.

[@themwr01]

Really? Hungary: *exists* 😅

[@maruti5281]

​@@esphileeAmerica doens't need passenger train , they prefer flight ✈️ American company and govt see railway as slow and outdated technology

[@nishant54]

​@@maruti5281But maglev is fastest train and most sophisticated than even aeroplanes.

[@GulfcoastHokie]

The NE Corridor from DC to Boston is dedicated to passenger rail only. Acela doesn’t run on freight lines. Also, the track is constantly upgraded, it’s not 100 years old. The speed limit is a government restriction and the fact that too many stops are required.

[@hikiy]

Fun fact the NEC was made the pennshlvania railroad

[@avatarinum]

It's upgraded as per things like positive controls, but there are too many sharp curves that (other than say Camden, NJ + a few other locations) don't allow the acela (gens 1 and 2) to REALLY take advantage of their speed capabilities.

[@SpheroJr3289]

NEC isn’t passenger exclusive. Locals do share the trackage

[@avatarinum]

@SpheroJr3289 You are absolutely correct. Especially between New Rochelle, NY, and New Haven, Connecticut, Amtrak shares its rails with at least 2 regional freight services, as well as the Metro North Commuter Rail service. And from New York to DC, you deal with NJ Transit and MARTA.

[@yankeesforlife24]

@@avatarinumyes but they must yield to passenger trains since the freight railroads don’t own the trackage. Others are supposed to by law and while some are good at following the law such as bnsf and up, others disregard it or are outright hostile to passenger trains like cpkc.

[@Mew__]

People be mad that freight trains are so prevalent yet complain when e-commerce stores don't have 1-day delivery...

[@fedcen]

1 day delivery almost never uses trains anyways trucks are the main way companies deliver stuff

[@Mew__]

@@fedcen You need some way to ship around product. You can't use a truck to go from stock to customer if nothing is in stock.

[@yulfine1688]

​@@fedcenfreight trains and trucking are the two most prominent ways goods are transported around..

[@forsaturn4629]

Or their local gas station runs out of gas 😂

[@AlgeArid]

Nobody's mad that freight trains are prevalent, they're mad that passenger trains aren't EQUALLY PREVALENT.

[@billolsen4360]

Train tracks in the US are not 100 years old. They're rejuvenated and rebuilt regularly.

[@Stache987]

But Blanche there are tracks that old, not every track owner has enough traffic to maintain each and every mile.. here in a rural town, there are 2 crossings, between them a siding is formed, which in the 2.5 years I've lived here Iowa Interstate passes through multiple times daily, and not slowing down either, and the nearest I've seen maintenance on any of their tracks is 20 miles away in the vicinity of their yard.

[@chalkylover]

They were built 100 years ago. Maintained sure but not built for high speed wail . Lots of crossings aren’t even marked or barricaded .

[@kieferonline]

I agree with you. The narrator himself said that over $800B was invested in the tracks, which undermines his own point of the tracks being old.

[@Koopzilla24]

@@chalkylover The Northeast Corridor where the Acela runs was entirely re-tracked aside from some bridges and tunnels between 2000-Present and is actively replacing bridges and building new tunnels. The only grade crossings on the line are a handful in coastal Connecticut. Tracks were upgraded to permit the highest speeds possible, and what limits speeds on the line aside from congestion is track curvature not the infrastructure itself

[@miles5600]

Then why do they have so many wooden sleepers? Concrete sleepers are the standard yet the US is full of them everywhere.

[@cloudedarctrooper]

Fun fact! Amtrak is actually supposed to be given priority when encountering freight, *however,* freight consists today are too long for the sidings/bypasses that the freight trains are supposed to wait on, so Amtrak always ends up being _forced_ to wait.

[@miller014]

It's actually a congressional act that states freight companies are supposed to prioritize Amtrak traffic. However, Congress doesn't enforce it. One more reason why we need term limits in Congress and campaign finance reforms.

[@mikefranklin70]

​@@miller014How much more do you want to pay for of your stuff?

[@hahamasala]

Having just taken a bunch of rides in the shinkansen 🚄 bullet train in Japan, I just have to say the US needs a network of these! So fast, smooth, quiet and comfortable. Great alternative to flying and lots of legroom. Going 160 mph on the ground for hours is unreal!

[@idontknowwhattowritelol]

China also has fast trains😭

[@wiffy1346]

​@@idontknowwhattowritelol yeah, which most of them is basically knock-of foreign trains

[@liamgasser8062]

It will never happen because Airline companies

[@harshrajjadeja8400]

India bullet train project is 70 percent completed , it will be open by 2026

[@harshrajjadeja8400]

India is going to plan 8 or more routes across whole india

[@GeorgeP-uj8xc]

This is why private passenger train companies like brightline in Florida are laying their own tracks and seeing massive success.

[@HercadosP]

No, Trains are communism

[@jasonm949]

Lol...no. It only goes between West Palm and Miami. The rest is "planned". "Planned" isn't success.

[@DovidGershom]

BrightLine is doomed to failure. Nobody rides it anyway, everyone rides their car or flies. Once the investors leave the BrightLine project, the whole system will fail. It's called a "real estate scheme"

[@wolvenar]

FYI Amtrak owns most of the eastern tracks they run. Freight share time one these but are not prioritized. The trouble is that not much of the track is suitable for higher speed. Much of it because of routing, such as proximities to objects, turns are to sharp, and they cross roads instead of going over or under. You cannot do high speed rail that intersect roadways directly for safety reasons.

[@Adumzzinthehouse]

Brightline doesn’t run in their own tracks in Miami, big chunks are shared by FEC Railway

[@dnjtwigg]

I know in CA amtrak has the right of way. And the tracks are not 100 of years old they are all state of the art and really well maintained

[@Soylent2024]

... and how is that high speed train going 😂

[@johno8030]

I live by the Roseville yard and have taken Amtrak to Reno and this not true. Same tracks as freight. Same from Emeryville to Sacramento, shared tracks.

[@thierryf8196]

State of the art? Have you ever been to europe?

[@alclay8689]

Wait I get it, crime is "art" in California

[@jackstoltz330]

@@alclay8689We’re richer than your state, cry.

[@Evans808]

Bro is gonna flip when he hears about Brightline (it builds it’s own track)

[@Evans808]

@furonyxwolf I don’t see why them being Florida-based is an issue. Its unfortunate that it is based in Florida, yet I’m not sure of any major problems spurring from if.

[@Spike-sk7ql]

​@furonyxwolfwell just as long as they dont do some "Florida man" bs they should be ok. 😂 On a serious note.... why is it a problem if theyre florida based?

[@HoneyNutBeerios]

If you should have any problem with Brightline, it should be with the amount of government grants and funds they got for a "privately funded" line. Other than that, the east coast line seems to be good for what it is and I hope it becomes profitable quickly to expand and work on the west coast lines.

[@livert1135]

WHAT

[@miltonmilton1544]

It still shares track with freight trains though

[@tjmfarming9584]

The whole reason why American passenger trains are the way they are is because originally the freight railroads operated passenger trains but saw a huge decline in traffic for passengers in the 60s. To stop the railroads going bust, Amtrak came into existence. If passenger trains were more profitable then the freight railroads would’ve kept them operating and had them take priority over freight.

[@Not_interestEd-]

And I'm willing to bet whatever public transit funding the government does supply gets pocketed because "lol taxes bad"

[@jst1man]

Still doesn't stop the fact that the freight lines are still a monopoly.

[@warrenash5370]

@@jst1man If passenger service was profitable, it would be readily available. Follow the money. US passengers would rather drive (inbred in our genetics) or fly. Trains just don't go to near as many places as the other modes go to. Culture, in this case, is a big factor in the need or desire for trains.

[@sasquatch7234]

​@jst1man I mean, they built/bought the track and holds the balls of the US economy in their palm. You piss them off, they will crush it. Not to mention that are supported by the US Government themselves.

[@exchangAscribe]

possibly, but it still wouldnt work due to lobbyist and the intentional monopoly overtaking the country that car companies did.

[@saadqureshi7993]

Europe: 155mph?💀💀

[@egheltzer]

Asia: only 245 mph

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

for the rest of the world who uses metric: 155mph is *about 250kph* I've heard that most bullet trains these days usually run closer to 300kph, that one train line in China ran 400kph at some point, and the current world record holder for fastest train is the TGV Duplex in France running above 500kph.

[@danhillier8374]

@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk yep but European high speed trains run at 300kph

[@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlsk]

@@danhillier8374 sometimes more than that (320kph) hence why I said "closer to 300kph"

[@LoosSerine]

​@@regulate.artificer_g23.mdctlskalmost all of China's high speed rail is above 300kmph with a substantial above 350.

[@bryanjk1971]

Mostly correct. The issue with high speed rail for Acela, a lot is old tracks that have a lot of tight curves that cannot be fixed without demolition to bridges and existing infrastructure.

[@Bugm-kn9sv]

And we’re too lazy to fix it

[@fuknrowdy]

​@@Bugm-kn9svthat, and what politician is going to get reelected after backing a $20 billion dollar infrastructure improvement package, when it turns into a $200 billion boondoggle that takes 10 times as long to complete as projected and accomplishes a third of what was promised? The kickbacks will be sweet, sure, but it would be political suicide. They know as well as we do that that is exactly how it will turn out

[@rohtati1020]

@@Bugm-kn9sv Not "lazy" just *costly*

[@NaenaeGaming]

@@rohtati1020The US government definitely has the funds to pay for it, they’d just rather spend it on other things that don’t necessarily help the population

[@nickoli7046]

@@NaenaeGaming here’s the thing it wouldn’t help anyone at all it would just a complete waste of money

[@jayasmrmore3687]

The real issue rather than the speed is that the routes are weird and the trains don’t go everywhere like the roads

[@paulwintin3073]

Bright line (Florida and soon LA to Vegas) is challenging the American rail paradigm. Building its own dedicated passenger tracks.

[@Ryan-cb1ei]

They’re awesome, stations are nice too. I believe they even have to buy the land the track is on.

[@XDTape]

@@Ryan-cb1ei that's their business model. buy land, build rail, sell land. worked pretty well for the railroad companies that built this country.

[@lethargicstove2024]

I've seen this train, it does about 130 mph I was doing 85 mph by the train track and it zipped by runs from Miami to Orlando I believe

[@NoSpam1891]

The wealthy went to air travel, the poor went to interstate buses, and the rest drive their automobiles.

[@jasonm949]

​@@lethargicstove2024It literally only has a line between West Palm and Miami. What drugs are you on seeing this in Orlando?

[@DoneFinEnd]

I got stuck for 52 hours on Amtrak in the middle of a polar vortex in The center of Glacier National park because a freight train derailed one car in a tunnel ahead of us. It made my 1 day trip take a week because after the storm hours they sent out replacement workers due to over time,and they then got replaced with another crew. Once it all cleared they sent us on a “replacement” bus that back tracked 4 hours to the closest city to then transfer us to other busses to then take us to Portland. Then we got a hotel room and a cheap breakfast and shuttled onto another train to finish the trip which didn’t go all the way through so had to hop on another 2 busses to finish the trip. Totally week long nightmare for what was supposed to be a 1 day trip.

[@NoSpam1891]

I believe it.

[@DavidLanger-d8c]

Sounds like you lived the 1987 film; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 😅😅😅😅😅

[@rowdybme4584]

Tracks aren't 100 years old. They replace them

[@chad2522]

Very true.

[@HamadaHamada-qx9bx]

I wish I could post picture but there is still 100 year old rail out there. It’s not that common but it can still be found in servicez

[@fewkeyfewkey5414]

@@HamadaHamada-qx9bxthat is not allowed in my state it requires a daily rail checkup from time to time

[@marcbuisson2463]

It's a layout that's 100 years old, therfor it runs trains with speeds matching those 100 yearq ago. Except that they tend to be even slower because it's modern american rail.

[@michaelmcphee2930]

The line may be a hundred years old but not the infrastructure

[@NanobanaKinako]

Most Americans nowadays would prefer airplane to travel, let's say LA to New York. Tho, if I was there, I would prefer trains just for countryside sightseeing.

[@tripl3a_]

it's up to 155 miles per hour. *laughs in japan*

[@TohaBgood2]

Actually, the vast majority of the Japanese dedicated HSR track is built to the 160 mph standard. So even if the new trainsets can technically go 186, 200, or 220 mph, the track speed is still limited to 150-160 mph. They standardized on that speed so the entire network tends to run at 160 mph with the exception of only a few faster and a few slower lines. And even the new track that they build in Japan these days tends to be 160 mph. For example, their last two HSR projects, as well as the two new projects now under construction are all 160 mph limited. This is all publicly available information, btw. I encourage you to read about it.

[@usernameaeaeaea]

​@@TohaBgood2that still means japan's usual train speed is as much/faster tham america's fastest

[@TohaBgood2]

@@usernameaeaeaea The freight moves at about the same speed in both countries. The local/commuter trains are faster, but not by much. It's specifically the Shinkansen network that is a good 20-30% faster than the Acela on average. But I feel like a loooooot of US railfans are utterly surprised and even shocked that the Shinkansen is not in fact 300% faster than the Acela. If you look at the top speeds of most Shinkansen lines and their average speeds it becomes more apparent why that is the case. But I still feel like it's important to realize that the Acela exists, it's in the US, and is on par with the average Shinkansen line in terms of both top and average speeds. Misinformation helps no one.

[@austinbarber7850]

I’d take slow American train over Pervy Jap train where you can’t even use your phone

[@lilkittygirl]

@@TohaBgood2Japan passenger trains go 320KPH fyi aka 200mph

[@michaelmcphee2930]

Visiting the US from Australia I took the Amtrak from Chicago to San Francisco. It was amazing ❤

[@crazydingo8891]

Sorry to hear you went to San Fran. Hope you didn't step in any poo on the sidewalk....

[@michaelmcphee2930]

@@crazydingo8891 last time was 2016. I did get pickpocketed at train terminal. Arseholes

[@twowheelunicycle8603]

Yeah nah don’t listen to this guy mate. Yes there is shit on the streets in certain areas of the city where homeless are abundant, it is a problem. But I’m sure you saw many landmarks you’ll never forget and had amazing views from certain spots as well. He’s an example of a silly American so don’t listen to him.

[@christopherlewis1315]

You picked 2 of the worst cities in the U.S. to visit. 😢

[@tristenatorplaysgames6833]

Shoulda picked nyc tbh

[@PArailkid]

As a railfan of the US, this is very true I have seen passenger trains on CSX and other railroads so yes this I very true.

[@mattkinley77]

For all you climates changes this is actually a very good thing One train one take a guess can haul 15 to 20 times more weight than one truck

[@jamesbrooks9321]

i remember the one time i tried amtrak and losing a day of travel in the station where i was told the delay was between 45 minutes to 12 hours and we wouldn't know exactly until the minute we boarded

[@RK-cw4js]

Looking at your map, Scotland only has two train stations? You might need to check that 😂😂

[@bobert3417]

Some guy in the comments said that these were only the high speed tracks

[@fab9207]

You need specialized tracks to go faster for longer

[@conrail666]

The government screwed over the railroads when they had their own passenger service. The northeast corridor was owned by the PRR

[@calvingreene90]

Freight rail is profitable passenger rail is usually unprofitable.

[@nicolivoldkif9096]

Nah, it can be profitable under the right circumstances, The US just doesn't meet that in many areas. Freight rail can be unprofitable as well, It's not used nearly as heavy in Europe as the number of port cities is much higher allowing quite a bit of bulk transport to be done by ship. The US while having a bunch of port cities, the fact that it is much more rectangular of a country with really ports being possible on about 1/3 to 1/2 of its borders makes a lot of population centers thousands of miles from a port.

[@calvingreene90]

@@nicolivoldkif9096 When well subsidized passenger rail can be profitable.

[@calvingreene90]

@@nicolivoldkif9096 The freight rail is severly hampered by government policies to support the highly subsidized passenger service.

[@JimmyJr630]

@@calvingreene90he Japanese railway is profitable, dutch railway is profitable, swiss railway is profitable etc. Car infrastructure is unprofitable not trains they have literally bankrupted cities like deteoit

[@calvingreene90]

@@JimmyJr630 Cities like Detroit are bankrupt because of decades of Democrat missmanagement. Before the democrats took over Detroit was one of the richest cities in the world. Imagine that subsidized railroads making a profit.

[@slantdwave]

Amtrak is the best travel experience. Bring back the full sunset limited!

[@ToothCracker]

Freight train tracks are not as smooth either. The rough tracks partially inhibit passenger trains from going faster.

[@VermyScrubs]

The freight explanation is /mostly/ accurate until you reach the Acela part. The Acela runs entirely within the Northeast Corridor, one of only a few sections in the entire country Amtrak owns the rights to. The only section that is not owned by Amtrak is between New Rochelle NY and New Haven CT owned by MTA Metro-North Railroad/ConDot

[@jamesedwards9857]

I love that you snuck a picture of the Utah Railway in the video. My grandpa used to be a diesel mechanic for them.

[@henryostman5740]

Acela operates on the NE corridor that is mostly owned by Amtrak, many other lines are owned by commuter transit authorities like MTA or NJDot. The NE corridor has a lot of stops and stations and parts of the line host a lot of commuter trains but fundamentally this is a 150 year old railroad designed originally to go about 30 mph that was supersonic back then so the only way to go 150 for the whole route would be to build any entirely new railway. Good luck with that.

[@trainsnstufff]

This is incorrect. The acela actually reaches speeds of over 110 mph 80% of the route. The other 20% is penn stations, and station approaches. Also, 80% of the US Freight Shares it’s stock with Amtrak.

[@hehehehaw1682]

110 is still comically low lmao

[@railworksamerica]

@@hehehehaw1682it’s better than what regular trains do, only 79

[@hehehehaw1682]

@@railworksamerica what is a regular train? High speed rail (which is what Amtrak is attempting to do) in most other countries easily reach speeds of 180-200 mph

[@railworksamerica]

@@hehehehaw1682 Any train that amtrak runs that isn’t the Acela or northeast regional

[@hehehehaw1682]

@@railworksamerica Amtrak is not exactly the gold standard we should be shooting for

[@careynikoley]

FINALLY...a straightforward answer. Thank you.

[@Trainrider1]

There is actually a new high speed train for Amtrak reaching speeds of about I think 180

[@ARandomComment123]

Amtraks new trains are suppost to hit 180 after infrastructure upgrades are made, when they first begin service they will only go 160

[@blauwgeel2743]

Yes, the new Alstom Avelia Liberty is actually a French TGV M that can easily reach 320 km/h (200 mph). But the Alstom Avelia Liberty will only reach that speed in France because France has high-speed lines that are capable of 320 km/h (200 mph). Sadly the Alstom Avelia Liberty can never reach a speed of 320 km/h (200 mph) in the USA because there are simply no high-speed lines in the USA yet that are capable of such high-speeds. And i'm afraid that the USA will still have no proper high-speed lines before the year 2050.

[@3catfirephotography374]

Well the Northeast Corridor which the Acela runs on is entirely owned by Amtrak. So freight is a rare occurrence and happens in a few small stretches of the corridor most with low passenger frequency.

[@NYG2012]

Except the Metro-North part of the line.

[@3catfirephotography374]

Well, actually, Metro-North just runs on it between Grand Central in New Haven. Metro north only owns the portion between New Rochelle and Grand Central. So Amtrak still owns it.

[@trainfanatic7768]

@@3catfirephotography374 then why have I seen signs saying that you are entering metro north territory? In New Haven and New Rochelle

[@3catfirephotography374]

@@trainfanatic7768 Well, probably for when CT rail ran on the line. And for New Rochelle it’s probably for the rare she has six shared assets train.

[@gunadz]

The MBTA owns everything from South Station to the MA/RI line.

[@jeffjohnson2273]

Dude,,,, we sit around and wait on Amtrak for hours. They really do have priority.

[@TohaBgood2]

Your corporate overlords always find ways to shaft thousands of passengers by doing sneaky things though. Like who runs trainsets that don't fit in the company's own sidings? How can any other train not yield to a consist that physically does not fit in any siding? It's well known that the freight companies see Amtrak as an existential threat and try to stamp it out in any way they can. The evidence is right there on any Amtrak Departures board.

[@jeffjohnson2273]

@@TohaBgood2 when Amtrak has a no fitter meet what happens is the freight train stops in the siding or on the main clear of the switch. Amtrak crosses the switch and the freight starts rolling as soon as we get lights. Amtrak slow rolls but doesn't stop. Delay is minimal. That is if the no fitter is allowed to leave the yard before Amtrak even clears. The other end of the spectrum is I am deadheading on Amtrak often enough, the only time they are delayed is when someone has mechanical problems. I have sat for hours in sidings waiting on Amtrak. It's an every day thing.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@jeffjohnson2273 Freight waiting for passenger trains is normal. That's how freight works all over the world. And that should be the default. The train tracks were built from government subsidies and land grants. The freight railroads only exist because the government used them to move government loads all around the country and paid to maintain "key links". You say that this is infrequent anecdotally. Well, we can all look up the stats online. Any delay of a passenger train delays thousands of people. Any delay caused by illegal freight practices is technically speaking, a crime. Even a seconds delay of an Amtrak train by a freight train costs the country money and should cost the freight company money in fines. This is not currently enforced by the FRA. It should be.

[@jeffjohnson2273]

@@TohaBgood2 seconds? I've got the GCOR and FRA regs in my work bag. It does not say anything like that. It really sounds like you're on the east coast where AmTrash is running their own rails with their own amateur hour dispatch. 90% of Amtrak delays here are caused by Amtrak. Last night they had a Norfolk Southern unit on their head end because they can't keep their own units running, they were two hours late because we had to pull a unit out of freight service and run it out to them. They got stuck in a snow bank last winter because they didn't wanna wait for snow removal equipment, we had to hook our freight units up to the back of them and pull them back down the hill. These are just a few stories. Government funded AmTrash is amateur hour. You'll be er change my mind.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@jeffjohnson2273 And it is precisely this complete disregard toward the taxpayers that fund both Amtrak and your trash subsidized companies is the reason why you all need to be broken up and/or nationalized. You simply can't comprehend at who's pleasure you serve and whose tax dollars make your paycheck possible.

[@aydendean]

*UK vs US high speed trains* Japan: Hold my sushi..

[@porterijsseldijk3953]

Canada: Hold my beer

[@fezii9043]

Canada has ALMOST 0 passenger train capacity especially when compared to like, anywhere in Europe

[@fredericdebilly2431]

​@@fezii9043I think you've forgotten of VIA number 1 (The canadian) Its the worlds longest and highest capacity passenger train in the world..

[@ace74909]

​@@fredericdebilly2431Nope that would be some random train in Russia.

[@devincook3246]

To be fair a much bigger % of Europeans use public transport compared to Americans because it’s more viable, living in America you pretty much need your own transportation to do anything - if I where to take public transportation to get to work, the dmv, a doctors appointment etc.. it would take me a couple hours just to get there. I’ve driven farther everyday for work than the radius of most European countries and I guarantee you most of the materials I needed where transported via railroad at some point along the way.

[@TheLegoTrainStation]

Damn how long is your commute?

[@devincook3246]

@@TheLegoTrainStation around 50 minutes if traffic is good, when I worked in Moab I was commuting 7-8 hours per week ‘cause I would travel there and back to SLC to manage other projects.

[@yulfine1688]

​@TheLegoTrainStation the average America spends roughly an hour to commute one way..

[@devincook3246]

@@yulfine1688 roughly, it all depends on what it is you do for work so imagine that the average American that transports to the same facility every day still take 1 hour just to get there. I work in construction as a finish carpenter for various job sites around my state, there has been times that it’s taken me 4 hours just to get to work….

[@yulfine1688]

@@devincook3246 oof most people are picky about their commute usually I try to keep mine within 30 minutes but that's not possible for most people.

[@ZAR556]

privately own railtrack?? That's the most American thing i hear today

[@SpikestTerror3]

Yeah because America is capitalist the companies bought land to make money by transporting things the same way as bus companies and taxi companies are privately owned also you shouldn’t let the American government do anything because they screw it up

[@baileyharrison1030]

When the railroads were first built, if people waited around for the government to take the initiative and build tracks for them, nothing would’ve ever happened.

[@notdave2993]

@@baileyharrison1030it’s like that even today! The government has always been a day late and dollar short for any project.

[@robertmoffett3486]

Thank God. The US would never have grown the way it did without private capital building our railroads. Even if the government was competent, it didn't have even a tiny fraction of the money required. Lots of the early funding came from London, ironically enough

[@dozergames2395]

​@@robertmoffett3486im like 80% sure most our rail was built because of goverment subsides that gave a large swath of land surrounding the rails to the companies that built them. Basicly paying them to build rails

[@wake-upcall4867]

It’s not the length of the track but the density/ applied infrastructure what makes the difference.

[@legacycontrast2258]

The northeast corridor is a dedicated pasenger route. While freight trains still run on it. The passenger trains have priority. Bassicly everything outside the northeast corridor belongs to the freight companies.

[@astrobrady2396]

Um actually your wrong, the Acela does not use freight tracks it uses the northeast corridor, which is owned by Amtrak. The real problem is the freight company’s don’t care about passenger trains and they refuse to upgrade infrastructure.

[@mkay1957]

Tell us how the railroad companies should upgrade infrastructure.

[@maxturgidson568]

Also…. Trains are a big waste of time in any long distance travel in the us. It would be as if people in Ireland were all taking the train to Moscow. It’s doable… just fly or drive.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

DRIVE? are you insane its even slower than the train as you get stuck in traffic you do realize that we do have a few regions in this country that cities are close and there is a lot of travel between them? Think northeast, california, midwest, etc also have you heard of china

[@19Robert98]

Not to mention most of the us doesn’t have the population density to support rail networks or bus networks. Which is why most of America has private cars

[@Obbij]

You can justify hsr and good passenger rail in every single one of the US’s metropolitan areas. The Texas triangle, Great Lakes region, pretty much the whole east coast, the front range in Colorado, So Cal La and Vegas etc. we have cars because of the way our govt and planners choose to build our infrastructure, low density car dependent towns connected by highways and roads. We drive because we literally have no other choice the majority of the time.

[@kthwkr]

I rode the Korean high speed rail. It doesn't have to compete with freight. Out of a 3 hour journey it only went high speed for about 15 minutes. The rest of the time it just lumbered along. And it stopped many times to load. I figured out that if we had taken the taxi we could have gotten to our destination faster.

[@michaelshammas72]

You lie

[@NotNoob-69]

bro looks like a off brand ray william Johnson 💀

[@aviation_dude3238]

Bro really did him like that 😂😂

[@lasttime500]

I believe there is no High Speed Rails in the US because it isn't really necessary. Americans have a strong car culture and much of the population owns or rent a vehicle.

[@bigboyandrew]

I have already answered a similar question on Quora, the reason is simple: the US territory is large and passenger rail connections would be too slow in any case (trains from coast to coast take a week, all the big trains in the past were night trains), it's the reason because you travel between states by plane. A widespread passenger network is expensive and unprofitable; here in Europe we mainly have domestic or short distance trains.

[@CloudmasterGaming]

As someone who lives in the UK, i can say that our rail network is pretty good, its 95% passenger train and 5% freight!

[@colinmontgomery1956]

It's not; I've used it.

[@CloudmasterGaming]

@@colinmontgomery1956 bro it's got rlly good coverage of the UK, And they r fast what u on about?

[@ultravires.]

It's complete garbage. Most trains are very slow. Something constantly breaks, and they can't handle even a little weather. HS2 is nowhere near finished, and train tickets are so expensive between cities most people choose to fly, say London to Edinburgh

[@colinmontgomery1956]

@@CloudmasterGaming , so, here is one of your own citizens attesting to what I have stated.

[@Nic_2751]

@@ultravires.Bro went to the Island of Sodor

[@tamar597]

1) that map is misleading as it shows only a few high speed trains, and no regional trains 2) all European train networks are integrated between nations 3) this covers a landmass that is bigger than the entire US surface area 4) many train operators service in multiple countries 5) people that take the train ALSO own/drive a car, you choose what's more convenient, train can be much quicker 6) the fact that US train travels sucks is purely political decisions, not circumstances

[@Ryan-cb1ei]

Sure the map might be misleading, but the US does have the largest rail network

[@nyls1717]

Amen.

[@Duster_WCUE]

"all European train networks are integrated between nations" *Cries in (S)pain*

[@FlorianBuchholz1]

It's also not just the length that matters, but what you do with it 😉. In the US there are way less train stations compared to Europe, where you can go pretty much everywhere by train and don't have to drive another few hundred kilometres from that station. But yes, there are also problems in Europe, for example the German railroad network is overdue 20 years regarding renovations.

[@ChrisBrengel]

Awesome video! I explained this to people all of the time.

[@GlitchedBlox]

The EMD SD40-2 takes priority because it looks cooler.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

metra looks coolest

[@NikkyElso]

Freight is legally supposed to give priority to passenger rail but the law is basically ignored.

[@roguedragondraksis9114]

Uhhhhh No no it's not.

[@NikkyElso]

@@roguedragondraksis9114 You're simply wrong. Look it up. Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970

[@thomaskane9464]

1. People don’t give American trains enough credit they deserve. It’s surprising how many people will hate on them and simultaneously never use them. 2. The country of the US is almost the size of the entire continent of Europe with most of their population centers being the equivalent of entire EU countries away from each other. And the areas not like this (mainly the NE) actually have good infrastructure.

[@stevenroshni1228]

Yep, Europe doesn't even have a cross continent passenger rail company.

[@carson9903]

There's still no good inter-city or inter-state train travel in the US outside of the NEC. Saying that the US is too large isn't a good excuse. Even Russ has cross-country trains.

[@davee1471]

155MPH => 249.448km/h

[@afizi1213]

In malaysia if we have hsr kl-singapura we can get more that 380km 😎

[@davee1471]

@@afizi1213 I once overruns train in Czech Republic

[@militiajim]

The FBI needs to do its job and get Amtrak trains the priority they are legally entitled to.

[@JosGeerink]

FBI? Idiot

[@daoudkamal7768]

the US track sits at 220k km where the European Union alone, not the "whole of Europe", you know that is half the size of the us and it sits at 208k km which means it has almost twice as many tracks as the us relative to its size.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_transport_network_size

[@InExcess516]

Private Industry INVESTED $800B. Amtrak was FUNDED (aka...taxpayer funded) $30B. In other words, anything the government gets involved with gets exponentially more expensive and goes to shit.

[@louiszhang3050]

Honestly Amtrak is hated on too much. I hear so many people complain about it, but having ridden only on JR and CRH all my life, I expected a lot worse when I tried it out for myself. Most foreigners are pleasantly surprised by the NEC, with service going at 110 - 120 mph most of the way between DC and NYC. Some station enhancements, reliability upgrades, and track straightening and the US honestly has a very solid piece of rail infrastructure they can be proud of.

[@matthewbeathe7044]

I have gone on a Amtrak train and bc freight trains get priority we were waiting for 45 minutes for the freight train😂😭

[@Blockypurr682]

I think that europe is the kind of place wheree you like passanger trains And lots of routs also 1 tip if you are going to the czech republic in a train expect that when you Will be coming back on a train then if you are late dont worry! České dráhy Will give you a 1 hour plus timer!

[@Curtis-CHL]

Share? “Hey look! There’s a freight tra-“ **Crashes because it’s “sharing”**

[@TheEmolano]

Menwhile Brazil: you only get freight railroads in some places, trucks and buses can do the rest of the work (spoiler: they do but for twice the price)

[@sotouszkamene2149]

In Europe is more train tracks then on this picture! I live in czech republic and on map is only train track from Prague to Brno and Ostrava. Only in czech republic is 2863 train stations and 15 079 KM of train tracks (9369 miles)

[@evanss2977]

Amtrak is supposed to get priority on all rail but that rule isn’t really inforced so Amtrak gets delayed behind freight trains And also the Acela high speed problem dosn’t relate to the priority from freight trains the reason why is because of older track that can’t handle the speed of the Acela sand while there is some traffic with nj transit and septa they are scheduled as to try not to get in the Acela’s way. Sorry if I became a nerd for a second

[@DistanceCentralRailroading]

Fun fact for those who doesn't know alot about railroads, Freight Railroads of today are Older railroads thats has merged together that also used to have passnger rail services them selfs, The Only Very big well known railroad of today that haven't Merged with any other railroad is Union Pacific which is a railroad that also well known for hualing freight and passenger well back in the days of course.

[@Vang2009]

We need to renormalize riding trains in the United States

[@Awalmartemploye]

When I searched “a train” I didn’t mean an actual train

[@tron3entertainment]

If you ask me, freight trains should get even more tracks to more locations. It is the most economical way of transporting huge amounts of goods while keeping costs reasonable for consumers. When possible they should be raised on Tressels to avoid stopping local traffic.

[@ganeshjadhav6019]

After watching this video I feel proud of our Indian Railway

[@yui4779]

And that's why British Trains are the best. We care about our passengers. That's why we have more passenger companies

[@PixelPeak-x8p]

Him:the largest train network Indian train:☠️💀💀☠️

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

in the 1800s we went bonkers building trains so now we have over 2x the track we really need

[@ryanbytracks4476]

The acela actually takes priority on its route. On its tracks called the northeast corrdior amtrak owns those tracks and only those tracks. The rest of the system is a total dumbster fire though like you said. Great video though im not trying to kick dirt on it.

[@trucchuong1726]

Thanks for the information, I've been asking the same question for a while.

[@webbiess6]

In Canada, passenger trains sometimes get priority and sometimes get higher speed limits depending on the area. VIA Rail rents the CN rail line. Yet the passenger rail service is far in between and is seen more as a luxury than a commodity. (A 6 hour drive is 13 hours by train) That's the situation in BC. Due to the rocky mountains, the trains go at a slow speed for quite a lot of their journey. In the farming area of Canada, the population is spread out. Only routes that actually would be profitable would be Vancouver Toronto Edmonton Calgary Yet , it's just cheaper and quicker to fly.

[@LouisChang-le7xo]

the windsor-quebec corridor is probably the only one that would work but it would be fine.

[@West_Coast_Mainline]

Amtrak has trackage rights to all of it

[@notch8c40]

You did describe it very well, but id like to share my knowledge as someome from the railroading community. In the entire US, Amtrak only owns their northeast corridor. Everywhere else amtrak has trackage rights, and with this amtrak actually has the priority depending on the situation. One more thing id like to say was, when amtrak was founded in 71, it was a goverment railroad, like Conrail. But yes, most people dont understand that amtrak doesnt even own half of the track they run on.

[@North_Cascade_Railfan]

Dude the passenger trains get highest priority meaning everything else has to move for them

[@rhoula]

Great video. Thank you for sharing. This is the kind of videos I should be making. :(

[@unnamedracer9757]

We absolutely need more trains, it’ll help get the terrible drivers off the highways and decrease traffic deaths (theoretically)

[@AmariHarrison-xj8xi]

DC metro: I have my own rails..

[@MayankRaj-3110]

In India the freight trains has the lowest priority 😂

[@goldgamercommenting2990]

The acela had an upgrade to reach 165 mph but it’s actually not the fastest in North America That role goes to the Canadian turboliner which one run was 171 mph

[@joeynova3550]

What everybody always fails to mention is that Amtrak had access to tons of what could have been their own private rail lines and allowed them to become abandoned because it was cheaper to share the freight lines.