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Re: Nice rail infrastructure (Germany)
Author: Charles Koch
Date: 06-05-2022 - 11:28
To play D e v i l's Advocate here for a moment . . .
What's going to happen in Europe if improved highways and discount airlines start siphoning away from passenger trains a significant amount of patronage? This is basically what happened in the U.S. in the 1950s and 60s, Canada in the 1970s and 80s and Mexico in the 1990s.
Does the free market really exist in Europe where airlines can compete with passenger trains or do government policies restricting landing and take-off slots essentially prevent that and more or less force people to use trains?
All of the investment in these massive projects means that the public WILL ride trains, come hell or high water. Austria and Italy don't want to see the base tunnel being built under Brenner Pass become a lightly-used albatross and they'll probably restrict expansion plans of commercial airlines if those airlines start posing a competitive threat.
As an analogy, if a person spends a lot of money on a Porsche, the Porsche WILL be used. I doubt he or she would ride a city transit bus to get around. Europe is putting a lot of its eggs in one basket -- passenger rail.
What's going to happen in Europe if improved highways and discount airlines start siphoning away from passenger trains a significant amount of patronage? This is basically what happened in the U.S. in the 1950s and 60s, Canada in the 1970s and 80s and Mexico in the 1990s.
Does the free market really exist in Europe where airlines can compete with passenger trains or do government policies restricting landing and take-off slots essentially prevent that and more or less force people to use trains?
All of the investment in these massive projects means that the public WILL ride trains, come hell or high water. Austria and Italy don't want to see the base tunnel being built under Brenner Pass become a lightly-used albatross and they'll probably restrict expansion plans of commercial airlines if those airlines start posing a competitive threat.
As an analogy, if a person spends a lot of money on a Porsche, the Porsche WILL be used. I doubt he or she would ride a city transit bus to get around. Europe is putting a lot of its eggs in one basket -- passenger rail.
