Jealous. There were great “interurban” lines (sort of like light rail of today) all up and down the US East Coast and beyond. At one point you could ride these little local trains on a journey from Philadelphia to New York! Talk about a connected metropolis!
You can still easily do this to get from Philly to NYC. Septa to Trenton, get off and switch to NJT to Penn Station. Runs hourly and costs ~$1. It does take a bit longer than Amtrak, though + Amtrak can be purchased for ~$20 if you time it right
