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You can still easily do this to get from Philly to NYC. Septa to Trenton, get off and switch to NJT to Penn Station. Runs hourly and costs ~$1. It does take a bit longer than Amtrak, though + Amtrak can be purchased for ~$20 if you time it right

At one point (for quite long actually) you could ride local trains to go from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. It would take a month, though.

It seems like interurbans were a prime source of mobility for the days after horses but before cars (and buses) came to rule the roads.