C’mon and ride the train

Unless they’re traveling through Chicago, New York, or the Midwest’s majestic plains of beautiful nothingness, most Americans likely don’t spend much time on trains.

Amtrak is looking to change that with a new line of electric trains coming this spring, per Fast Company.

The high-tech trains…

… will debut on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line, which runs from Boston to Washington, DC, and carries ~14m passengers annually.

The new trains:

• Can carry ~25% more passengers.
• Have winged headrests for additional privacy and plenty of outlets.
• Top out at 160 mph, 10 mph faster than the old trains, which date back to 2000.

But there’s the catch

Even 160 mph is significantly slower than something like Japan’s 200 mph Shinkansen, or China’s even speedier Shanghai Maglev.

Amtrak’s new trains could go up to 186 mph, but they’re held back by American train infrastructure.

• These trains, part of a $2.45B investment, must slow down to a positively chelonian 30 mph to pass through Baltimore’s Civil War-era B&P tunnel.
• Seven of the route’s 12 bridges are 100 years old.

Is that the right transit investment? Time will tell. Some other countries, which — good for them — already have nice trains, are moving their money elsewhere, instead investing in “flying taxis.”

But the US is leading elsewhere

America’s freight rail system is more advanced than Europe’s.

• Railway privatization has led to longer trains and stronger axles.
• That means more cargo can be transported further, increasing profitability.

Freight trains don’t look nice or have abundant USB ports, but that’s something.