Trains, a two-hundred year old form of mass transportation, have continued to chug along into modern times. In certain regions of the world today, they are primarily used for freight while in others, like across the European Union and in India and Asia, trains are a common long and medium-distance transportation method. While the popularity of trains as vehicles for mass transit varies, their benefits are clear.

Trains are one of the most effective means of traveling from one place to another, assuming the train runs on the route you need to go, and they also happen to be one of the greenest forms of travel out there.

Many people in the United States have never ridden on a long-distance passenger train, although they are common in many places for commuting. The tide on trains is rapidly changing, though. In days of past, coal-powered trains were loud and pollution-heavy vehicles that spewed soot everywhere. Today's trains are more economical and green, often powered by electricity, and are even viable competitors to air travel, thanks to new technology that can propel them at high speeds.