I could literally bike across the Great Plains faster than a train and save enough money to buy a new bike. You first have to take the train to California, then to Oregon, and back halfway across the country.
I could literally bike across the Great Plains faster than a train and save enough money to buy a new bike. You first have to take the train to California, then to Oregon, and back halfway across the country.
I mean, yeah. But pick somewhere with a direct connection and it’s potentially useful. About the same time as driving.
If I lived on either coastline I wouldn’t complain. There’s just a particular absurdity to this route. It’s a region defined by its railroad towns, which already has Union Pacific freight lines running those direct Denver>Omaha>Sioux City>Minneapolis and Des Moines>Minneapolis routes. Having no passenger connection between them at all isn’t just a failure to meet modern infrastructure standards, but is a step down from the 1860s. Seeing how thoroughly it’s been hollowed out is a wild experience.
But think of the lost profits for the automobile and fossil fuel companies if they were to restore those railways!!!