5 ms·

US has the largest railway on earth by a large margin

by johnsmith1840 3mo ago

yogorenapan 3mo ago
Largest freight rail. Public transport for normal people is still shit compared to Europe.
- BDPW 3mo ago
  And especially China. And Japan.
- mrits 3mo ago
  Have you been to Europe? What area do you enjoy the public transportation?
  - sixothree 3mo ago
    Have you been to America? Public transportation barely exists.
  - DiogenesKynikos 3mo ago
    Switzerland.
  - wkjagt 3mo ago
    The Netherlands
  - yogorenapan 3mo ago
    Mate, I live in Europe. The UK (as bad as it is, is still better than the US), the Netherlands, Belgium, and generally anywhere else that has public transport.
- dzhiurgis 3mo ago
  That doesn't seem to be stopping europeans from moving to USA.
  - seszett 3mo ago
    Apparently net migration has been towards the EU rather than towards the USA since 2022, but I can't find a better source than this: https://x.com/benbawan/status/2049303326999609846 https://x.com/benbawan/status/2049303326999609846
    - dzhiurgis 3mo ago
      Your source literally has been community noted as misleading.
      - seszett 3mo ago
        I had not seen it, but there isn't really an equivalent to a green card or permanent residency in most of Europe. Usually you just get naturalised after having spent 5 or 10 years with a limited-duration but more or less automatically renewable visa.
  - yogorenapan 3mo ago
    I'm a European moving to America. Unfortunately money > public transport, and until Europe can compete on salaries and available capital, I'll have to make do with shittier transport
defrost 3mo ago
US annual freight tonnage per annum is much the same as Australia's (1.5 billion tonne /annum, IIRC). Australia has longer, more control complex trains (leading, trailing and midway locomotives). To the best of my knowledge the US has never once had a single train 7 km in length with 680+ cars and a gross tonnage of 99,734 tonne - Australia has set a record with such a train and moves smaller (but still at that scale) trains daily. ( That's over 4.3 miles in length carrying 109,938 short tons for any readers from Liberia, or Myanmar ) Tech-wise Australia also operates the world's first (and still only?) fully autonomous rail heavy haul routes.
- stinkbeetle 3mo ago
  "Australia" doesn't really set records, multinational mining companies do. The records might as well be set on another planet. There is virtually no population, roads or utilities, no agricultural land beyond low density cattle stations that need up to 50 hectares per head, no mountain ranges, no large rivers, and employing people to work on site out there is might be 3x more expensive than the rest of the economy. The records are set on private lines that operate outside normal rail regulations by agreement set down by state governments that are beholden to the mining companies. Comparing USA's freight rail network to Australia's on those numbers paints a misleading picture. 3/4 of it is iron ore and coal being carried relatively short distances (few 100s of km) from inland out to the nearest coastal port, and most of that is away from any significant population centers. By ton-mile, USA takes 5-6x more than Australia and much more interesting and varied conditions and freight types and destinations - not just ferrying it from a hole in the ground, across highway 1, then into a bunker at a shipping terminal.
  - defrost 3mo ago
    Like everything, it all depends on your metric. Again, same freight tonnages as the US .. and with fewer people == vastly greater rail performance per capita, and similar tonnages in absolute numbers. The US is just another G20 country, and one sliding down the rankings on freedom, and democracy.
    - 3mo ago
mitthrowaway2 3mo ago
How fast does it move? How's the latency?
sschueller 3mo ago
But how much of it is electrified?
panick21_ 3mo ago
This is kind of a dumb statement. Yes the US is one of the larges most populated countries and has been for a long time. Its just coping instead of actually engaging with the question about what makes railways good. The US put down lots of track in the 18-19th centuries as its industrial revolution was pre-car and its the biggest country where this happened. If you look into detail and not just very simple 'we transport this much cargo' you see the US system has many disadvantages and is not nearly as amazing as some US people barging make it seem. Frankly given the historical strength of railways in the US into the 20th century, the near perfect geography for rail and the lack of ports its quite embracing how little things are done with rail.

US has the largest railway on earth by a large margin

yogorenapan 3mo ago

Largest freight rail. Public transport for normal people is still shit compared to Europe.

BDPW 3mo ago
And especially China. And Japan.
mrits 3mo ago
Have you been to Europe? What area do you enjoy the public transportation?
- sixothree 3mo ago
  Have you been to America? Public transportation barely exists.
- DiogenesKynikos 3mo ago
  Switzerland.
- wkjagt 3mo ago
  The Netherlands
- yogorenapan 3mo ago
  Mate, I live in Europe. The UK (as bad as it is, is still better than the US), the Netherlands, Belgium, and generally anywhere else that has public transport.
dzhiurgis 3mo ago
That doesn't seem to be stopping europeans from moving to USA.
- seszett 3mo ago
  Apparently net migration has been towards the EU rather than towards the USA since 2022, but I can't find a better source than this: https://x.com/benbawan/status/2049303326999609846 https://x.com/benbawan/status/2049303326999609846
  - dzhiurgis 3mo ago
    Your source literally has been community noted as misleading.
    - seszett 3mo ago
      I had not seen it, but there isn't really an equivalent to a green card or permanent residency in most of Europe. Usually you just get naturalised after having spent 5 or 10 years with a limited-duration but more or less automatically renewable visa.
- yogorenapan 3mo ago
  I'm a European moving to America. Unfortunately money > public transport, and until Europe can compete on salaries and available capital, I'll have to make do with shittier transport

defrost 3mo ago

US annual freight tonnage per annum is much the same as Australia's (1.5 billion tonne /annum, IIRC). Australia has longer, more control complex trains (leading, trailing and midway locomotives). To the best of my knowledge the US has never once had a single train 7 km in length with 680+ cars and a gross tonnage of 99,734 tonne - Australia has set a record with such a train and moves smaller (but still at that scale) trains daily. ( That's over 4.3 miles in length carrying 109,938 short tons for any readers from Liberia, or Myanmar ) Tech-wise Australia also operates the world's first (and still only?) fully autonomous rail heavy haul routes.

stinkbeetle 3mo ago
"Australia" doesn't really set records, multinational mining companies do. The records might as well be set on another planet. There is virtually no population, roads or utilities, no agricultural land beyond low density cattle stations that need up to 50 hectares per head, no mountain ranges, no large rivers, and employing people to work on site out there is might be 3x more expensive than the rest of the economy. The records are set on private lines that operate outside normal rail regulations by agreement set down by state governments that are beholden to the mining companies. Comparing USA's freight rail network to Australia's on those numbers paints a misleading picture. 3/4 of it is iron ore and coal being carried relatively short distances (few 100s of km) from inland out to the nearest coastal port, and most of that is away from any significant population centers. By ton-mile, USA takes 5-6x more than Australia and much more interesting and varied conditions and freight types and destinations - not just ferrying it from a hole in the ground, across highway 1, then into a bunker at a shipping terminal.
- defrost 3mo ago
  Like everything, it all depends on your metric. Again, same freight tonnages as the US .. and with fewer people == vastly greater rail performance per capita, and similar tonnages in absolute numbers. The US is just another G20 country, and one sliding down the rankings on freedom, and democracy.
  - 3mo ago

mitthrowaway2 3mo ago

How fast does it move? How's the latency?

sschueller 3mo ago

But how much of it is electrified?

panick21_ 3mo ago

This is kind of a dumb statement. Yes the US is one of the larges most populated countries and has been for a long time. Its just coping instead of actually engaging with the question about what makes railways good. The US put down lots of track in the 18-19th centuries as its industrial revolution was pre-car and its the biggest country where this happened. If you look into detail and not just very simple 'we transport this much cargo' you see the US system has many disadvantages and is not nearly as amazing as some US people barging make it seem. Frankly given the historical strength of railways in the US into the 20th century, the near perfect geography for rail and the lack of ports its quite embracing how little things are done with rail.