The railroads provide a more consistent income than real estate because they're not all localized in one section of the board. Yes, it is considerably lower than that of a set of matching properties with hotels, but it's dependable. They're cheap and you don't have to sink money into them either so you recoup your purchase price much faster as well. I wouldn't depend on them to win the game, but they're good for extra cash flow to build up your real estate. Of course, that's based on nothing other than my own opinion.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person outraged by the debit card version of this game.

That said, there are good variations on the traditional version. Monopoly JR isn't bad for the little ones, and Dino-opoly is a cute version played exactly like the original with a different look.