I agree that intercity trams are a great source of income in hard mode! Besides, they are not an exploit, they are very historical indeed.
It’s history, the intercity tramways (interurbans in Usa) were very popular and very profitable both in Usa and Europe during the end of 19th / begin of 20th centuries.
Perhaps, for added realism, there should be a way to build interurban tram tracks separated by roads (as in reality, because interurban trams almost always ran on separated tracks between two cities).
