[mitthrowaway2]

This is a myth oft-repeated on HN. US freight rail does cheaply transport a lot of tonnage, but it is a shadow of its former self, after a half-century of digesting the investments of the past. It's squeezed out efficiency by running longer and slower trains (that exceed the length of the rail sidings!) transporting bulk goods on predictable schedules between fixed points (like grain and coal), while slashing routes and reducing maintenance. It ships a lot of freight, but it does not do so effectively, quickly, nor safely, or flexibly.

[JumpCrisscross]

> myth oft-repeated on HN. US freight rail does cheaply transport a lot of tonnage, but it is a shadow of its former self

What is the myth? It is a shadow of its former self. But it retain its mantle of the 1850s as the world’s largest rail network.

[angiosperm]

The Russian empire's is larger by extent.

[defrost]

A bit less, by tonnage per annum.

    In a typical year, (USofA) freight railroads haul around 1.6 billion tons of raw materials and finished goods. Redesigned railcars have helped increase average tonnage. In 2022, the average freight train carried 4,089 tons, up from 2,923 tons in 2000.

https://www.aar.org/data-center/

    According to official statistics data, as of October 2023, the overall traffic (in Russian rail freight) amounted to 1 billion 243.8 million tons

https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2023/10/31/russian-r...

Smaller, by total track length:

    The total length of line used by the Russian Railways is, at 85,500 kilometres (53,130 mi), one of the largest in the world, exceeded only by the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_R...

The arc of Russia across the globe is likely what "wins" on east | west extent, but less total track carrying less tonnage.

[angiosperm]

Exactly as I said. Russia's system's extent is broader because Russia itself is broader.

[defrost]

That's exactly correct A.Sperm - a smaller system by track length and tonnage, stretched out thin to look bigger.

[sarchertech]

What’s the myth? None of those stats are incorrect.

“ It ships a lot of freight, but it does not do so effectively, quickly, nor safely, or flexibly.”

What does effectively even mean? If it weren’t effective people wouldn’t use it to ship.