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In all the world there are only three high speed rail systems which pay for themselves. All the rest are subsidized and some heavily. with the price of air far
by Shivetya 10y ago
In all the world there are only three high speed rail systems which pay for themselves. All the rest are subsidized and some heavily.
with the price of air fares why would you not fly other than for the TSA? it was air travel that did them in the US simply because it started here faster and there weren't borders to worry about for the majority of travelers.
Rail is a romance that too many people never look past the haze to see the truth. Sadly even light rail is a boondoggle and the tens of billions if not a hundred or more in deferred maintenance is going to bite a lot of local transit authorities in the butt (it already smacks the Washington DC Metro)
What is really sad is this warning appeared on cato awhile back about the change to the contract presentation and most places blew it off because of the source
- rayiner 10y ago> with the price of air fares why would you not fly other than for the TSA? 1) You can't build airports in downtown cores, which unavoidably adds 30 minutes at each end. 2) Boarding an airplane with one door is intrinsically slower than boarding a train with many doors. Again, that adds time at embark/disembark. 3) Extra weight on an airplane inherently costs a lot of money, which means that trains will always be more spacious and comfortable.
- crzwdjk 10y agoUnfortunately, Amtrak is desperately trying to give away its advantage on point 2. At many stations, passengers are not allowed to just wait on the platform and are instead funneled through a ticket check one at a time. This results in the predictable long lines, though the actual boarding process is still somewhat more efficient than on a plane.