A fair point, but I'd argue that those are really just set-dressings for the overall story.
If the story is "how do we get to our destination in time?" then if your characters travel by horse you use a different obstacle (treacherous countryside and bandits) than you would use if they can travel by rail (the next bridge has been sabotaged). The overall story and goal remains the same. The details are what changes.
Sort of, but to me its more than that. How people and goods got from A to B changed quite a bit when trains came around. In the American west, having the ability to ride a train across the country made a huge differnce from having to cross in wagons or sail around.
It had an impact on the economy, on the settlers, on the natives, it was a pretty big deal and changed the dynamics in America quite a bit.
Now I agree in a sense that it is dressing, but the dressing is going to have impact on how you build your world, and because of that, I think you should plan it out ahead of time. For example if you want pirates but you are going to use FTL commincation and FTL travel and have a big government in the area, things like pirating become much harder to do.
Also when you are traveling in the vastness of space it becomes a somewhat bigger deal to me than when you are traveling around one planet. Just my two cents