this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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Big congratulations to them! It's a very impressive accomplishment for a sprawling network with a long legacy.
(Edited to add): The US could honestly do big things like this too if they actually valued their railroad network as a matter of national security like they did with highways.
I was in Europe on their rail and we rode from Switzerland to Rome in a day. Albeit a bit long, 8 hours, but when we got off we realized that entire trip was the same distance as Denver to Seattle, a flight we frequently take.
Flying takes us about 3.5 hours plus security, waiting, travel to and from the airport. Plus then sitting on a cramped plane with very little service.
I wish I could take 2 more hours and have an enjoyable ride like the rail they have over there.
I was figuring 8 hours to be a bit long and i just checked: all connections from zurich to rome go via the gotthard scenic route, and not through the tunnel. I thought the gotthard was open again for passenger rail after the big derailment they had, apparently not. While the scenic route is very nice indeed, the tunnel could shave off a solid hour of travel time.