3 ms·

why is it surprising ? You have to maintain thousands of miles railroad infrastructure, that includes r.r bridges, train stations, r.r. tracks and trains themse

why is it surprising ? You have to maintain thousands of miles railroad infrastructure, that includes r.r bridges, train stations, r.r. tracks and trains themselves.

NoPicklez 3y ago
I suppose Airports take up quite a large amount of dead space and require air traffic control, staff working in the Airports etc. Planes are much more complicated machines and carry significant risks and therefore the manufacturing and ongoing maintenance requirements are significantly higher. I kinda do see myself surprised.
- Shawnj2 3y ago
  You can build an airport and accept flights from any nearby cities. If you build a train station you now need to build tracks to connect it to places and get land from someone to do so. Depending on where you are the size of this hurdle varies.
- joecot 3y ago
  In the US, it's because of federal subsidies. Air travel is federally subsidized, to get airlines to maintain air travel to less populated areas. Otherwise the flyover states would literally just be flown over. Air travel is subsidized, airlines pay to use but do not pay for airports. Highways and gas are subsidized, drivers pay tolls, but drivers and car manufacturers don't have to directly pay for all road maintenance. Railways are subsidized, but nowhere near to the same extent. The Federal government has subsidized Amtrak 30 Billion over the last 30 years. It's subsidized freight rail some, and Amtrak and other services can use those rails, but freight trains have priority. It's subsidized air and highway travel by 1.89 trillion, including around 1 trillion to build most of the airports you see today.
m463 3y ago
I don't think this is the reason. I think it is that the tracks are monopolized. If you look at freight trains compared to trucking, trucking is less efficient, has higher fuel costs and is cheaper because of competition.
- Scaevolus 3y ago
  Trucking also externalizes the cost of road maintenance to the entire tax base, despite the fact that road wear scales like weight^4.

why is it surprising ? You have to maintain thousands of miles railroad infrastructure, that includes r.r bridges, train stations, r.r. tracks and trains themselves.

NoPicklez 3y ago

I suppose Airports take up quite a large amount of dead space and require air traffic control, staff working in the Airports etc. Planes are much more complicated machines and carry significant risks and therefore the manufacturing and ongoing maintenance requirements are significantly higher. I kinda do see myself surprised.

Shawnj2 3y ago
You can build an airport and accept flights from any nearby cities. If you build a train station you now need to build tracks to connect it to places and get land from someone to do so. Depending on where you are the size of this hurdle varies.
joecot 3y ago
In the US, it's because of federal subsidies. Air travel is federally subsidized, to get airlines to maintain air travel to less populated areas. Otherwise the flyover states would literally just be flown over. Air travel is subsidized, airlines pay to use but do not pay for airports. Highways and gas are subsidized, drivers pay tolls, but drivers and car manufacturers don't have to directly pay for all road maintenance. Railways are subsidized, but nowhere near to the same extent. The Federal government has subsidized Amtrak 30 Billion over the last 30 years. It's subsidized freight rail some, and Amtrak and other services can use those rails, but freight trains have priority. It's subsidized air and highway travel by 1.89 trillion, including around 1 trillion to build most of the airports you see today.

m463 3y ago

I don't think this is the reason. I think it is that the tracks are monopolized. If you look at freight trains compared to trucking, trucking is less efficient, has higher fuel costs and is cheaper because of competition.

Scaevolus 3y ago
Trucking also externalizes the cost of road maintenance to the entire tax base, despite the fact that road wear scales like weight^4.