That's oversimplification, Europe is a very different place with different history/geography/cultures. For one thing, everyone in Europe is squished together (r

That's oversimplification, Europe is a very different place with different history/geography/cultures. For one thing, everyone in Europe is squished together (relatively speaking) and has been for centuries. Just because we could plan all our cities around trains doesn't mean Americans will want to. I think a lot of people here are overconfident about how much better it would be if we just build trains all over. Not all of us want to wait around everyday to be packed into a smelly, dirty disease distribution system that can shut down your commute for hours or take away your ability to get anywhere for days when they have maintenance issues.