The most important product a train system offers is getting you from A to B.

The GP is referring to the very early days of railway - only in 1840, the railway emergence led to standardized time [1] to make drafting timetables and schedules easier.

The benefits and downsides are something that we still experience two centuries later, all thanks to the railways.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_time

And yet, the most important product provided by the railways is getting you (or stuff) from A to B.