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No amount of money will overcome the fundamental issue: monopoly. Airlines are subject to market competition since any competitor around the globe can spot a p
by pembrook 10mo ago
No amount of money will overcome the fundamental issue: monopoly.
Airlines are subject to market competition since any competitor around the globe can spot a poorly run route and buy their planes into those slots. If they can execute more efficiently than you, they can afford to lower prices (or increase the level of service) more than you, and thus put you out of business.
Trains do not work this way. No amount of investment can overcome the cushy institutional-rot, laziness, and demotivation that inevitably results from being a monopoly, as most train routes are not subject to competitive forces due to the real world constraints of the infrastructure needed.
- zorked 10mo agoChina and Switzerland seem to do fine with trains.
- tonfa 10mo agoFrance, Italy, Austria (and probably others) don't have monopoly on long distance train. For instance, you can take a DB/Renfe/Trenitalia train on french high speed line, or in Austria take a Westbahn train instead of ÖBB. That said personally I much prefer the mostly fixed pricing (and no reservation required) of swiss network than the dynamic one of other countries.
- cyberax 10mo agoIt doesn't really work all that well. The "everything above the rail" model suffers from the fundamental problem that "everything above the rail" is just a minor component in the overall cost of rail.
- tonfa 10mo agoYes, that's the same as for roads/highways, those are better publicly managed.