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> If you want a real villain, blame the oil companies that bought up local trains and dismantled them in the first half of the century. That's quite a claim, c
by vonmoltke 10y ago
> If you want a real villain, blame the oil companies that bought up local trains and dismantled them in the first half of the century.
That's quite a claim, considering air travel's hand in killing train companies. You have a citation for that?
- Frondo 10y agoI thought this was well-known: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...
- vonmoltke 10y agoFirst, streetcars aren't trains. They're good at circulating people around an urban center, but not for getting them in and out. Second, even that article indicates streetcar systems were well on their way to death before the conspiracy started. Third, the participation of oil companies in it was tangential; it was auto manufacturers who drove it.
- m_mueller 10y agoAs someone who's lived in Zurich, here's the main advantage of streetcars vs buses: They get their own reserved space in the middle of the road. That makes them very reliable and on-time like trains (assuming good planning / operations). That's why they're still popular in places with good service, and new ones are getting built.
- sv123 10y agoSource: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/