The third-class travel in this country is better known as immigrant travel. The percentages given in the above table for the United States are based upon an average of the numbers of passengers of each class carried on the principal through lines. If all the roads were included, the percentages of the second- and third-class travel would be still less.
That which is of more material interest to passengers than anything else is the rate of fare charged.
The following table gives an approximate comparison between the rates per mile in the leading countries in the world:
| First Class. | Second Class. | Third Class. | |
| Cents. | Cents. | Cents. | |
| United Kingdom | 4.42 | 3.20 | 1.94 |
| France | 3.86 | 2.88 | 2.08 |
| Germany | 3.10 | 2.32 | 1.54 |
| United States | 2.18 | — | — |
The rates above given for the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are the regular schedule-rates. An average of all the fares received, including the reduced fares at excursion rates, would make the figures somewhat less.
The rate named as the first-class fare for the railways in the United States is, strictly speaking, the average earnings per passenger per mile, and includes all classes; but as the first-class passengers constitute about ninety-nine per centum of the travel the amount does not differ materially from the actual first-class fare. In the State of New York the first-class fare does not exceed two cents, which is not much more than the third-class fare in some countries of Europe, and heat, good ventilation, ice-water, toilet arrangements, and free carriage of a liberal amount of baggage are supplied, while in Europe few of these comforts are furnished.
On the elevated railroads of New York a passenger can ride in a first-class car eleven miles for 5 cents, or about one-half cent a mile, and on surface-roads the commutation rates given to suburban passengers are in some cases still less.
The berth-fares in sleeping-cars in Europe largely exceed those in America, as will be seen from the following comparisons, stated in dollars:
| Route. | Distance in Miles. | Berth fare. |
| Paris to Rome | 901 | $12.75 |
| New York to Chicago | 912 | 5.00 |
| Paris to Marseilles | 536 | 11.00 |
| New York to Buffalo | 440 | 2.00 |
| Calais to Brindisi | 1,373 | 22.25 |
| Boston to St. Louis | 1,330 | 6.50 |
While it would seem that the luxuries of railway travel in America have reached a maximum, and the charges a minimum, yet in this progressive age it is very probable that in the not far distant future we shall witness improvements over the present methods which will astonish us as much as the present methods surprise us when we compare them with those of the past.