Trains would still work well. Have a train track that runs through gateways and it's a quick and easy way to transport large groups of people.

You should read Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga. It's a science fiction story where humanity has colonized multiple planets, and there is an entire system of trains set up that make interplanetary journeys through wormholes. The Seanchan could have done something similar, with terminals that connect via gateways to other cities.


We've also never seen a gateway tied off for very long. Personally I don't think it's very easy for weaves to be tied off indefinitely, and the more complex weaves are more likely to unravel and untie themselves (Elayne mentions the flows got slippery and hard to handle when she was trying to unravel her gateway). Permanent gateways are the next thing to impossible, IMO.

That means a channeler would have to initiate each gateway, or at least remake them fairly frequently, which would make it pretty hard to use gateways for day-to-day mass transportation. Perhaps ter'angreal could be developed that open and maintain gateways, but trains are easier to develop.

Long story short, it's not that surprising or pointless to me.