"PhantomView" wrote in message
...

That said, for intercontinental travel, greater use
of trains IS possible.

Only if you have a LOT of time on your hands. If you have a two-week
vacation and want to travel from NYC to LA, you'll spend half your time just
getting there and back.

Depends on your mission.

New York to Chicago by train is no faster than it was at the turn of the
20th Century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicag..._Line_Railroad

"Trains would run at 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) and complete the journey
between Chicago and New York in 10 hours. At the time the two fastest trains
between New York and Chicago, the New York Central Railroad's 20th Century
Limited and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pennsylvania Special (forerunner of
the more famous Broadway Limited), each required twenty hours to make the
journey."

Things haven't improved much, if at all:

"Amtrak has one train a day from New York to Chicago. It takes 19 hours, and
you sleep overnight on the train.": https://tinyurl.com/y7dnm6tf

"An average trip on Amtrak from New York to Chicago takes 22 hours and 45
minutes, while the fastest available Amtrak trip will get you to Chicago in
19 hours and 5 minutes.":
https://www.wanderu.com/en-us/train/...us-il/chicago/

Chicago Union Station Amtrak to New York Penn Station via Amtrak = 19 h 53
min https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Chicago/New-York

It's actually faster to take a Greyhound bus: 17 h 40m
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Chicago/New-York