With gas prices nowadays, why is US rail travel still so inconvenient?

[shootingstar]

I will comment here since....have been in a carless/car-free household last quarter century and more.

One doesn't realize how huge Canada (and the U.S.) are until looking into rail and bus travel, limited options. VIA train lines for passengers are incredibly limited now. The greatest frequency of trains on a regular basis is the line in Southern Ontario and Quebec, between Windsor Ontario and Montreal.

Of course there are even more limited options for bike transport by train in Canada and U.S., ...ie. not every train time line. Due to limited vacation time, I have taken the train with bike several times between Toronto and Kingston; Toronto and Montreal; and Toronto andTuro, Nova Scotia. But I have also biked without train/sag wagon, from Toronto to Cornwall Ontario. It is strange that a Canadian passenger rail line, doesn't even run through Canada's capital city, Ottawa.

My partner has made use of the Amtrak train with his bike, I believe in the Chicago area, also somewhere from middle of the Southwest U.S. to Sacremento.

I looked into the Amtrak options between Vancouver, BC and Portland. Too long.

It is very true that freight trains take precedence in scheduling..since that's where the rail companies make serious money. When my partner was a contracts manager for an oil firm, part of his job included negotiating huge dollar deals and bulk raw materials purchase/transport (in metric tonnes) to be transported by rail, ship worldwide. The freight lines in North America, are run efficiently...those in supply chain management and raw materials transportation know this.

A subject of ongoing debate in Metro Vancouver area...is the need to extend the Skytrain(aboveground commuter train) to the suburbs where the population base has exploded in the past few years.