As a European, this article is outright bizarre, and makes me appreciate what we have much more. I will complain less about trains from now on.
European trains are lovely. But coming from New York, where our regional rail runs with Swiss on-timeness, the tolerance for delays in the U.K. and Germany is wild.
Deutsche Bahn is orders of magnitude better. One time my wife and I were taking the train from Venice to Munich and they (Trenitalia) simply forgot half the cars somewhere.
I know but they're the only German operator I have significant experience with.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrain_Modernization_Program
There is no lack of stupidity, however, at the system level. The state owns the rails and procures service from private actors who then manage the traffic more or less successfully. The booking systems are chaotic, the prices are high. It is sometimes cheaper to fly domestically, even though the door-to-door time is longer.
Imagine if the U.S. could get their rail network together... Like really invest in proper, normal, modern trains. Not the tech bro vacuum tube nonsense.
Diesel engine driving electric motors (for torque and efficiency)
I think that's what parent meant.
If it's being called electric it's not going to have a diesel engine of any sort.
I don't think I've ever seen a diesel train, ever. In fact, for a long time I was (blissfully) unaware of their existence and the fact that they do exist still surprises me...
The Chicago area (where I live) is serviced by electric train lines that go back at least 100 years.
The issue that the US faces is that Americans prefer private travel and that the demographics make that hard to overcome. Our tax policy doesn’t make it easier but frankly there is no economic reason to extend our electric train infrastructure further than it exists.
[edit] that’s without mentioning that the US has the most highly developed rail infrastructure in the world. We choose to put freight on it…