In Europe there's also problems with cross-border rail freight, partly due to incompatible systems, and partly due to bureocracy (national operators lobby polit

In Europe there's also problems with cross-border rail freight, partly due to incompatible systems, and partly due to bureocracy (national operators lobby politicians hard to protect their home turf, while trying to expand internationally, running into the same issue there with the local national operator). If you look at the share of freight transported by rail as a function of the distance, in the US that curve goes smoothly upwards, as long distances play into the economic benefits of rail, whereas in Europe there's a sharp drop beyond 500-1000km or so. Meaning that international shipments in Europe largely switches to trucks.