I think that in USA, railroads had to abandon passenger train service because selfish people would rather drive huge pickup trucks and huge SUVs and expensive sedans than to ride the train. I wish that USA does the same thing that Japan and some other countries do like high taxes, high price of insurance, and high price of gasoline.
Wow, what an arrogant attitude. The decline of the US passenger train began in the 1920s several decades before those "selfish people" with their "huge pickup trucks and huge SUVs" even existed. Automobiles were indeed a factor, though, with their ability to run on your schedule and carry whatever goods and produce you required to
exactly where they were required without the time and expense of transshipment between railroad and local transport. 'Farm to market' was a big factor in that: a farmer could load his own produce in to his own truck and take it directly to market without having to load it from local transport to the train at home then from train to local transport at destination - by cutting out the middle man, he could get back more of the expense he had put in to growing the produce. Various governments making road improvements was also a factor. Another factor was/is the low population density of most of the US continent: trains have to carry a certain number of people per run to remain profitable and outside of major metropolitan most of the US then, and still now, simply doesn't have the required volume of people all going from the same places to the same places. Distance is another factor. Passenger trains are efficient in the 300 mile to 600 mile range and a good percentage of travel in the US is shorter than that and longer than that. The shorter distances make automobiles more practical and the longer distances make air more practical and efficient.
Using myself and my life as an illustration, I live in a farm burg about 30 miles from the nearest city. I can drive my truck directly from home to my destination in the city, put what I acquire in my truck, then take it directly home.
If a train were involved I would have to get from home to the train, wait for the train, take the train to the city, secure transport from the train stop to my shopping, secure transport for myself and my purchases from store to store, secure transport back to the train stop, wait for the train, store my purchases aboard the train, ride the train back to my town, retrieve my purchases from the train, secure transport for myself and my purchases from the train stop to home.
With my truck I can be to the city and back home in a couple hours.
Using a train would eat up a lot of the day and prevent me from accomplishing much else.
Sorry mate, contrary to your arrogance it ain't selfishness, it is practicality.
