As we approach the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election, one of my biggest fears is that the Democrats will run on the temptingly easy “anti-Trump” platform. The Democratic Party has long stood as a purveyor of constructive, immortalized policy — I want that approach to re-emerge and set our nation back on course. We don’t need more political division and hateful rhetoric. We need more jobs, more housing and a long-postponed, much-needed response to the climate crisis. We need to rail.
Yes, I’m talking about trains. In the 19th century, railroad systems catapulted America to the frontier of economic, industrial and transport innovation. By 1880, 50 million dollars worth of freight traveled across the nation by way of railroads each year, and some 400,000 laborers — roughly 2.5% of the nation’s workforce — were employed by the industry. The ripple effect of the transcontinental railroad was incomprehensible: Entire cities and industries emerged as a result of our nation’s railroad network.
Yet as oil, highways and commercial flight began to dominate American infrastructure and line congressional pockets, trains began to fade from the picture. New York City’s annual subway ridership has remained roughly the same since 1946, despite a massive population explosion. Furthermore, despite the United States having a higher per capita rate of public transportation use than Germany in the 1950s, by 2010, Germany’s per capita use of public transportation was seven times that of the United States.
To explain our public transportation stagnation, we simply must follow the money. In 2025, the airline industry spent roughly $156 million lobbying Congress, automobile interests spent $110.8 million and big oil spent a whopping $149.8 million. Trains and eco-friendly transportation pose the largest threat to these oil-backed industries, and oil companies will do everything in their power to bring them down.
Our public transport stagnation has allowed our global counterparts to steam ahead. High-speed rail serves 98% of China’s major urban areas, and the nation’s 23,550 miles of high-speed rail is long enough to connect New York and Los Angeles at least eight times. When I backpacked through Europe this summer, I couldn’t help but marvel at the continent’s interconnectedness. Paris to Amsterdam, a 300-mile distance, can be covered by train in a little over three hours. Dartmouth to New York City, a 270-mile distance, takes five hours by car, six and a half by train.
Advanced rail infrastructure wouldn’t just transform how America connects — it would also be one of our most powerful tools in addressing the climate crisis. Amtrak travel produces up to 83% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than driving and up to 73% fewer emissions than flying. Additionally, it takes 16 lanes of highway to carry as many people per hour as just a single two-track railroad. Climate policy has fallen to the back burner during Trump’s second term, and that is simply unacceptable. Moving forward, every policy initiative — from housing to healthcare to transportation — must be tinted green.
Some Democrats are putting in the effort to make this train dream a reality, but the party has yet to take the policy seriously. U.S. Representatives Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., proposed the American High-Speed Rail Act in 2024, highlighting that a $205 billion investment in rail infrastructure would directly create over 2.6 million new jobs over five years. Trump’s daily barrage of attacks has left the Democrats with little else to do except defend the tenets of our democracy and prevent us from descending into absolute tyranny. Defense is important, but so is offense — it is crucial that we not allow innovative policy to fly over our heads.
With the midterms approaching and the presidential election peaking over the horizon, it’s time Democrats started planning for the offensive by refocusing on a liberalism that builds, as Ezra Klein says. Americans are in desperate need of progress. We need better housing and transportation and grocery prices and basically everything. As we strategize to tackle the withering Republican majority, let’s aim to build lasting infrastructure. I’d rather 2.6 million Americans secure a job with insurance than receive a check in the mail accompanied by a letter reminding them that if their assets exceed 3,000 dollars, they’ll no longer be eligible for government assistance. “Third-rail” policies like Social Security have reached an untouchable status; once we prove trains are working, it’ll be political suicide to derail them. We have the chance to move forward, full steam ahead. Let’s rail.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
