I’m currently taking the Amtrak cross-country from Los Angeles to New York, a journey that has taken 66 hours so far. Here are three facts about rail travel in the US that you may not have known:

  1. At its peak, the US had the world’s largest and best rail network, spanning 254,000 miles. American rail companies were the biggest corporations in the world.
  2. Freight trains in the US are far more profitable than passenger trains, so 70% of the rail that Amtrak operates on is owned by other companies. This means that freight trains often get priority, leaving Amtrak trains stuck on the side of the road.
  3. Amtrak is woefully underfunded. The amount of subsidies that the US government has granted Amtrak in its lifetime since 1971 is less than the budget for a single year for the interstate highway system.