To many people especially Americans and those who know where Oslo and Bergen are, it is impossible trip to imagine. And to take it by train, it feels insane … mostly to Americans.
https://youtu.be/atiPmDDMw9Y?si=nth8NNuYm5De-9fZ
We fly rackets, we claim we landed on the moon. We have 340 million people, we fly planes everywhere, having a car is necessity, motorcycles are common, trucks are everywhere. But we are way behind the world in trains. The country is huge, but trains are not popular and they do not really exist. I mean they do, technically, but for normal standard service they do not.
Try it. You wish to go from New York to Chicago? Major trip by train. Chicago to Miami? Ouch. You can do it, but you need to have some time. Cross the country? New York to Los Angeles? Possible and congrats if you make it. 89 hours and change the train twice.
More basic trips should be there and should be commonly used. For example relatively close cities of Burlington in Vermont to Boston in Mass – 200 miles by car, 3 hours, it should be easy and common to hop on a train and be at the destination in say 4 or 5 hours, right? You can leave at 10 am and be in Boston at 8:30 pm. That is 10.5 hours. If you did it by car, you would be averaging less than 20 miles per hour.
We have a ton of catching up to get started. And we are so far behind that it is not only about building real railway system, it is to explain and teach people to use it. In sixties and seventies they knew it. But today? Ask your friend in Chicago who needs to visit Denver in Colorado. how he gets there. 99% of folks will drive or fly, almost nobody takes a train. Which is safe, comfortable, nice way to travel. You get to sit down, read a book, go for a walk, look outside the window and admire this gorgeous country. Make a phone call, even watch some TV, work on computer, eat something and possibly even healthy.
Will we get there? When? Fast? Let’s hope so. It feels old and outdated way to travel, but it is very modern and smart way.
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