One of the biggest differences between the railways in Europe and the ones in North America is that the ones in Europe are more practical from a passenger’s point of view, as they are considerably cheaper and are used by many to travel from one place to another. In North America they are …show more content…
still used by some but are much more expensive and are more of a luxurious thing rather than a method of transportation.
There is a lot more diversity in Europe’s railways, because there are so many more countries as opposed to the two in North America, and each country has its own railway, and it many cases even more than one, some official and some privately owned. In North America there are just a few main railways, and the other privately owned ones being mostly tourist railways on old restored steam trains.
In North America, very little and close to none of the rail lines are electrified, and only diesel trains are used.
In Europe, many lines are electrified and most countries use some diesel and some electric trains, but there are some who only use electric and some only diesel.
The railways in Europe also have a longer period of history, especially in countries such as the United Kingdom, where railways began. In North America, they started construction later and it lasted a lot longer, due to the massive distances across the vast country. This is another difference about the railways: their extent. In North America, the countries are so big that they cannot be mostly covered with rail lines. However, in Europe, the countries are small and many railways almost completely cover the country.
In Europe, there is a lot of focus on transporting passengers as well as freight, and the freight trains in Europe do not go that long distances and thus they do not have that many train cars. In North America, the main focus is transporting freight and on the lines there are a lot more freight trains, which are a lot longer and can have hundreds of train cars, because they need to travel far. If you are in Europe at a train crossing, it will probably be a passenger train. In North America, a freight
train.
Personally, I like the train system in Europe very much because you can travel with the trains a lot easier, and you do not have to use a large sum of money. I find it to be a very nice method of transportation to travel by train, as you get to see many nice views and it is unique compared to other forms of transportation.
The trains themselves are also very different, not just the railway line and system. North American locomotives all look similar, and there are not many European locomotives that look similar to them. The North American ones have a lot more power and strength, as they are used to pull hundreds of freight cars.
All in all, both railway systems are unique and so are the trains that travel on them. Each one has its advantages and unique history, as well as specialties, as the European ones with passengers, and the North American railways with freight. They have differences but also similarities, and have both helped shape their countries. The railways are very interesting.