Things I Have Never Understood ... add yours

[cassiesmom]

I don't understand why fast "distance" train travel isn't as widely available in the U.S. as it seems to be in Canada and Europe. I traveled by train from Chicago to Washington, D.C. It was crowded, noisy, and the train arrived late. Train service in other countries must be better than it is here.

[Karen]

I don't understand why fast "distance" train travel isn't as widely available in the U.S. as it seems to be in Canada and Europe. I traveled by train from Chicago to Washington, D.C. It was crowded, noisy, and the train arrived late. Train service in other countries must be better than it is here.

Don't bet on it! I once was on a train from London to Glasgow that "took a nap" for a couple hours in the middle of nowhere - just stopped with no explanation and eventually resumed with no explanation! It was quite odd, and I finished the book I had brought with me on that one leg of the trip, when I had expected it to last for the ride back as well!

[Lady's Human]

I don't understand why fast "distance" train travel isn't as widely available in the U.S. as it seems to be in Canada and Europe. I traveled by train from Chicago to Washington, D.C. It was crowded, noisy, and the train arrived late. Train service in other countries must be better than it is here.

Shorter distances to travel, and in most European countries railroads were a prime target of both sides air forces during WW2. With all the destruction on the continent, they had a clean slate to engineer better railbeds. In addition, their economies were ruined by the war, so automobile travel didn't gain popularity until much later, by which time the railroads had been rehabbed and were in excellent shape.