The people in the meme are at about Seattle and NYC, which is a little over 3k miles apart (by car). You'd need to be going 250mph for the entire 12 hours to make that distance. A quick google search says that the maximum operating speed of a bullet train is 200mph, but tests have been conducted at 275mph.
So, you'd need to go non-stop at 125% max speed to make the trip in 12 hours. Even if you went at 275mph, realistically you'd make a lot of stops along the way, which is going to make the average speed a lot lower. Trains are great, but the US is really big.
Bonus fact: a non-stop flight from Seattle to NYC takes about 5.5 hours.
Chinese high speed train network operates at 120–240 mph, and their maglev (very short, very expensive, very fast train route from Shanghai airport to the city centre) had the record at 268 mph. Plus, railroad may be slightly shorter due to how it is designed if the road isn't near straight already.
But yes, 3000 miles is a lot and maybe 12 hours will not be achievable for a long time yet
Unfortunately, all the electric train startups were bought up and closed down by diesel train companies decades ago, and the majority of the rail lines are owned by freight companies as well. This is partly why public train transit is so bad: the government has to lease the tracks from the freight companies, who get priority on the lines over public trains, meaning that if there's freight traffic the commuter rail has to wait for the freight lines to go through first.
I think for people who have had long distance relationships it kinda is. Like I would say something like that to my ex, but we both knew it was impossible. Sort of a dark humor but you do what you have to do in those situations
My thought was that it's an obscure joke about the two Washingtons in the USA. Like, the state in the north-west corner is called "Washington" and then there's the capital city of the USA on the east coast, called "Washington, D.C.".
But Washington, D.C., is further south from where the person is placed, so I'm guessing not...
You realize that distance is 4,700km, the distance between Lisbon and Moscow. It takes 3 days by train without a stopover. Public transportation doesn't make meetings any easier.
Yes, and I've personally taken three-day same-country trains before, back when it was the cheaper option. And guess what, non-private planes are also public transport.
Wait, so your "the joke is your public transport" comment is with the impression the US doesn't have planes? I still have no idea what the hell you were trying to say