How Facebook tried to build its own railroad

Facebook is well known as the largest social network, with hundreds of millions of members on every continent. But what few people know is that the company once hatched plans to build its own railroad, which it eventually had to abandon. The project had every chance of “burning out” had it not been for the outbreak of a pandemic that confused the plans.

The new railroad was to be built through Union City. The plan was to use the existing but abandoned Dumbarton Railroad Bridge. Its integration into the transportation system would have made life much easier for those who have to commute to work in Silicon Valley every day.

Reportedly, Facebook wanted to gain weight not only in the digital world, where its authority is hard to argue with, but also in the real world, where it could undertake no less grandiose projects than on the Web. The project began moving forward in 2017, but has faced a number of obstacles, including political ones.

By the time the pandemic began in 2020, the company had managed to spend about $20 million on its plan. The coronavirus devalued all of Facebook’s efforts – people started working remotely. As a result, the physical backbone was abandoned. However, now that people are back in the offices, the new railroad would come in handy.