If the United States had a better, more reliable, more affordable train system I would never get on another plane - and this is the type of thing that makes it even more depressing. Never. Period.
In terms of railway network size by kilometers the US ranks near the largest in the world:
A lot of that is necessitated by sheer land mass of course, not passenger demand. This wikipedia page is more telling as you can see where the US ranks in terms of passenger kilometers travelled per year and even more telling average length of trip travelled and even more more telling average distance travelled per inhabitant by rail per year in kilometers. I would imagine that most of the US rail travel is still centered around the north east and involves commuters, although I couldn't find a list of busiest US rail routes. For more on the dismal state of US rail compare this list of existing US railroad companies with this incredibly long list of defunct US railroad companies.
Get us out of here Bob.
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