# Would a USA-South America Rail Link Make Sense?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 22, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085 "2013-02-22T15:55:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085/1 "2013-02-22T15:55:33Z")

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The possible Bering Straits rail tunnel has been discussed…most people see it as economically unsound. But what a bout a direct rail link from El Paso to South America?  
It would be technically difficult (the 40 mile Darien Gap would be expensive to cross).  
But once in place, a rail like could take the place of thousands of trucks. Would such a rail link make sense? The USA-Mexico trade is enormous-not sure about further south.

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**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085/2 "2013-02-22T16:19:14Z")

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I’m pretty sure they already have a steady stream of trains going to and fro from SA and the States.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085/3 "2013-02-22T16:20:20Z")

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So what is the current _legal_ trade between North and South America? And where do you get the idea that a rail line would replace thousands of trucks? The Darien Gap precludes that already.

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**Author:** ![Kepler1571](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/db5fbb/32.png) [@Kepler1571](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepler1571)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085/4 "2013-02-22T16:21:37Z")

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Goods go south, people come north. What could go wrong? 😉

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-usa-south-america-rail-link-make-sense/651085/5 "2013-02-22T17:00:18Z")

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There aren’t even any real roads between North and South America and it isn’t because it is impossible. The [Darien Gap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap) between Panama and Colombia has been left that way intentionally for a few reasons but one of the big ones is the political decision not to encourage free and easy transit between the two continents.