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Originally Posted by RickOShay
I can not believe it's big country.. . umm I assume you are saying you think American train systems should be better.. but why? america has never really utilized trains for public transportation.
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Never? Come on. America doesn't use trains much for public transportation
now, but at one time it had the largest passenger rail system in the world, both in miles of track and in amount of traffic handled. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Americans absolutely depended on the rail system to get around. The road system was primitive, the highway system practically nonexistent, and what automobiles were available were toys of the wealthy. Travel by air was a pipe dream. The biggest railroads, like the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, were among the largest corporations in the country.
Even with the advent of mass-produced automobiles, which certainly cut deeply into the short-haul transportation market, trains dominated U.S. long-distance passenger transportation for decades. They weren't displaced from that role until after World War II, with the growth of the interstate highway system and the rise of the airlines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickOShay
Its all about cars, roads and highways in america.
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What you say is definitely true today, except that you left out air travel, the main way Americans get around over long distances. Passenger rail gets little attention now simply because most Americans don't use it anymore; it has become an "underclass" transportation system, which may partly explain mariko0727's unfortunate experiences.
Also, in one of her past postings, she stated she was going to Berkeley, which would mean she's probably using BART. Given California's ongoing monetary woes, services like BART have suffered badly. She may also be riding the system in the vicinity of Oakland, which might make things worse; the city is notorious for its high crime rate.
