Amtrak is the United States' only cross-country passenger trail service. And this means that its been tasked with moving people around a country that is otherwise really large. Unfortunately, due to the prominence of cars and planes, ridership of passenger rail in the United States dipped considerably in the 1900s and never really recovered, even as other countries, such as China, rapidly build out a national high speed rail system that far and away surpasses Amtrak's meager routes. So what's going on? Well, the geography of it all certainly doesn't help!
In this episode, we'll cover the geography and history of how Amtrak expanded, its recent ridership trends, and why Amtrak can't replicate the same success found elsewhere and what that means for Amtrak going forward.
