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EU Plans $371B Build-Out of High-Speed Rail Corridors

54 points by saubeidl 1y ago

gizajob 1y ago
Jeez you could buy everyone in Europe an aeroplane for that.
- schoen 1y ago
  An $824 aeroplane?
  - 4gotunameagain 1y ago
    I saw someone on youtube the other day building a single seater out of cardboard. Could work, especially with economies of scale. /s
m0llusk 1y ago
The continent scale management system is an interesting challenge and could probably make for a good game also.
JumpCrisscross 1y ago
“Today, the European Commission is unveiling a comprehensive plan to accelerate the development of high-speed rail… …the plan sets the ambition… …In preparation for the plan, Commissioner Tzitzikostas held an Implementation Dialogue with relevant stakeholders…” https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/commission-launches-plan-accelerate-high-speed-rail-across-europe-2025-11-05_en https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/commission-l...
ksec 1y ago
By 2040? That is a very ambitious target by European standard. I would have thought they will still be in the planing stage. And unfortunately UK would not be part of it. Sometimes I do admire the speed which China get things done.
jiehong 1y ago
I think the goal of reducing short flights isn’t bad (or rather decrease transportation CO2 emissions). But, the way is not working: even today flights are faster and often cheaper than trains, with less delays.
- PeterStuer 1y ago
  Because flights are massively subsidized. Also, passenger rail has to yield for freight as the latter brings on more money. Personally I prefer high speed rail over flights where available. It is far more comfortable and end to end usually as fast as flying in Europe.
- ncruces 1y ago
  Eventually, we'll have to either decide to get serious about not burning fossils, or not. If we do become serious about it, there's no reason internal flights that can easily be replaced by slower rail today, shouldn't be pay as high taxes for fuel, as the cars do. Cars can also be more convenient than transit, and we tax them for it.
  - steelbrain 1y ago
    Ah yes, The European Solution. Tax the better method until it’s at least as bad as the worse method.
    - saubeidl 1y ago
      Cheaper != Better. That's why we need to make the worse method more expensive, so price sensitive buyers don't go for that one.
    - myaccountonhn 1y ago
      Better than pretending the problem doesn't exist.
    - fragmede 1y ago
      There's a story I heard about the oil industry in not-europe. Flaring off natural gas because it wasn't economically feasible to capture it and store it for energy is just "how things were". Ever idiot can see it's a waste, but it takes a special government to see how to fix that waste. Talk to the engineers to figure out how much it would cost to capture that natgas. Set the fine for flaring natural gas to be that, + $10,000 or so per day. Voila! Suddenly it's economical to capture that natgas.
mamonster 1y ago
They should figure out how to put a part of the 371B under military budgets, given that rail is the only serious way of war logistics at the moment.
rayiner 1y ago
[flagged]
nasmorn 1y ago
Can’t wait for it. Can’t believe I ever need to take a fucking flight from Vienna to Berlin which takes longer with transfer and security than the train would take if it just had a reasonably fast speed. But the direct track through Prague is so slow it is literally faster to go through Munich on a 400km detour
- saubeidl 1y ago
  The slow Czech train is incredible though! Their dining car still has a full-on kitchen where you can get freshly made Schnitzel and Pilsner Urquell from the tap, complete with white tablecloth. Yes, there should be a faster option. But if you have the time, do give it a shot, it's quite the experience.

54 points by saubeidl 1y ago

gizajob 1y ago

Jeez you could buy everyone in Europe an aeroplane for that.

schoen 1y ago
An $824 aeroplane?
- 4gotunameagain 1y ago
  I saw someone on youtube the other day building a single seater out of cardboard. Could work, especially with economies of scale. /s

m0llusk 1y ago

The continent scale management system is an interesting challenge and could probably make for a good game also.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

“Today, the European Commission is unveiling a comprehensive plan to accelerate the development of high-speed rail… …the plan sets the ambition… …In preparation for the plan, Commissioner Tzitzikostas held an Implementation Dialogue with relevant stakeholders…” https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/commission-launches-plan-accelerate-high-speed-rail-across-europe-2025-11-05_en https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/commission-l...

ksec 1y ago

By 2040? That is a very ambitious target by European standard. I would have thought they will still be in the planing stage. And unfortunately UK would not be part of it. Sometimes I do admire the speed which China get things done.

jiehong 1y ago

I think the goal of reducing short flights isn’t bad (or rather decrease transportation CO2 emissions). But, the way is not working: even today flights are faster and often cheaper than trains, with less delays.

PeterStuer 1y ago
Because flights are massively subsidized. Also, passenger rail has to yield for freight as the latter brings on more money. Personally I prefer high speed rail over flights where available. It is far more comfortable and end to end usually as fast as flying in Europe.
ncruces 1y ago
Eventually, we'll have to either decide to get serious about not burning fossils, or not. If we do become serious about it, there's no reason internal flights that can easily be replaced by slower rail today, shouldn't be pay as high taxes for fuel, as the cars do. Cars can also be more convenient than transit, and we tax them for it.
- steelbrain 1y ago
  Ah yes, The European Solution. Tax the better method until it’s at least as bad as the worse method.
  - saubeidl 1y ago
    Cheaper != Better. That's why we need to make the worse method more expensive, so price sensitive buyers don't go for that one.
  - myaccountonhn 1y ago
    Better than pretending the problem doesn't exist.
  - fragmede 1y ago
    There's a story I heard about the oil industry in not-europe. Flaring off natural gas because it wasn't economically feasible to capture it and store it for energy is just "how things were". Ever idiot can see it's a waste, but it takes a special government to see how to fix that waste. Talk to the engineers to figure out how much it would cost to capture that natgas. Set the fine for flaring natural gas to be that, + $10,000 or so per day. Voila! Suddenly it's economical to capture that natgas.

mamonster 1y ago

They should figure out how to put a part of the 371B under military budgets, given that rail is the only serious way of war logistics at the moment.

rayiner 1y ago

[flagged]

nasmorn 1y ago

Can’t wait for it. Can’t believe I ever need to take a fucking flight from Vienna to Berlin which takes longer with transfer and security than the train would take if it just had a reasonably fast speed. But the direct track through Prague is so slow it is literally faster to go through Munich on a 400km detour

saubeidl 1y ago
The slow Czech train is incredible though! Their dining car still has a full-on kitchen where you can get freshly made Schnitzel and Pilsner Urquell from the tap, complete with white tablecloth. Yes, there should be a faster option. But if you have the time, do give it a shot, it's quite the experience.