this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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Also, population density in the US vs. Europe:
At the very least, there should be a rail link to the largest city in each state. Even in the areas in the US with comparable population density to Europe, the rail infrastructure is embarrassing.
Relevant, but not exculpatory
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We should at least have the rail density of BelarusI largely agree, but population density alters the feasibility of cross-country routes for sure. And if we were to find a higher resolution map of US population density and zoom in on most of the densest areas, you'll find they often have local passenger rail networks.
Even Houston and Dallas have local rail systems serving some of their highest density areas. Obviously, yes, it could and should be a lot better
That belies the fact that we already had cross-country routes before, but decided to ditch them for even-more-subsidized freeways.
Sweden has high speed rail connecting all cities and large towns. That is a dark country country. The three Baltic states are currently working on a 200km/h line connecting their capitals with Poland. Not to mention Spain, which is more densly populated, but happens to have the second largest high speed rail network in the world.