LETS LEARN ABOUT stuff THAT NO LONGER MATTERS. YAY. *handicap clap*
The importance of various subject can vary. For instance it's important to know about famous events in history such as World War II, however it's not as important as, say, the dynasties of China between the 11th and 14th centuries, which really had not that big of an impact on the world.
It really disappoints me when people say "oh (subject) is so stupid its not important why are we learning this". There are very few things that are worth not learning.
And one of them is finding out how long two trains that depart from Philadelphia if one is going to New York and the other to Baltimore and figuring out how long it'll take if one is travelling at x miles per hour and the other is going two miles per hour slower.