From the comments section
If I take a train from Dublin to Galway, I have within 20 minutes' walk of either terminus hundreds of bars, restaurants, offices, and other attractions at my disposal. If I take a train from say, Orange County to Phoenix, I have within 20 minutes' walk about 5 freeway overpasses and lots of parking lots.and
Most of the US is a suburban hellscape, with anything worth doing at least 20 minutes' drive away. This is largely the result of ridiculous parking minimums (forcing business owners to subsidize private automobile storage) and NIMBYs fighting denser development because of parking concerns (forcing the government - i.e. all of us, to subsidize private automobile storage). The true irony of this is that it doesn't even ease traffic; people spend most of their time driving not through interesting things but.. automobile infrastructure (after all about 70% of LA's surface area is pavement or buildings dedicated to automobiles).
Most American cities are laid out differently than in Europe (other than older cities in the NE corridor). They are sprawling and spread out. Suburban areas have houses with huge lots. Stores are massive, like Walmart, and have huge parking lots. This makes mass transport within cities impractical. Mass transport only works in places with high population density. Therefore, people might we willing to take a train between nearby cities, like Dallas and Houston or LA and SF, but once they get to their destination, they'd have no way to get anywhere without a car. Alternatives could be taxi (expensive if you have more than a few limited destinations), shared ride van (slow), and car rental (again, rather expensive). Plus the train station itself may be far from your true destination within the city (driving across LA can take hours).
This is why trains are not practical in most US cities for most travelers.
Really, it is impossible to discuss transportation rationally. We can’t see the true costs and benefits. All we see is a fog of government subsidy, government preferential and punitive taxation, and waves and waves of regulation.
We’re just blind men groping in a government induced darkness.
Older countries put in trains, and built around them, long before cars arrived. Where you are and where you want to go are located where they are due to rail proximity.
The USA had cars for a far longer percentage of its existence, developing around roads instead of rail.
Good observations.
I would only add my part about horrendous charges $$ for food on the train.
Underinvestment = not viable = needs government subsidies.
We don’t need more government involvement in transportation. I’d like to see the FAA and air ports sold off. Use the money to pay down the debt.
I’d have to drive to the train station. If I’m driving, might as well go drive to my destination which is quicker than the train where I am not in control.
Why not? Because they’re unreliable, for one.
In high school I knew a pom pom girl that pulled a train once. She was American.
I took a 4 hour Amtrak from Deland to West Palm Beach awhile back. Next time I’ll walk. I will never ride Amtrak again , another subsidy success. /s
One reason is these days it takes so long in a crappy car on a crappy seat. Take the “light” rail from the Portland, OR airport out to Beaverton and it’s at least an hour. You have to stop a lot.
If the feds would leave rail alone you can’t convince me with existing lines and new ones small rail transport companies can’t work. I’d like to see a fast, limited stop rail in TN, priavtely owned. Memphis to Jackson to Nashville and break off to Knoxville and Chattanooga. Give me a bar and food car and I’m in. lol
Too slow, do not go where I want or when I want and too expensive. I have already sunk considerable investment into cars because I have never lived anywhere that trains were sufficient transportation. The incremental cost to this far more flexible mode of transport is far too low to be bothered with trains.