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Re: Nice rail infrastructure (Germany)
Author: FUD
Date: 06-05-2022 - 13:55
Europe is not the US. Railroads - especially passenger - are public services that are not required to make a profit. They are built and operated with, to some degree, gas tax money: remember, $10/gal gas is old news in Europe, largely due to taxes, not some aberration like that gas station in Mendocino. Fares are designed to attract usage. And "improved highways" is also a seldom-used phrase in recent years.
Then: there are taxes on the already-expensive jet fuel and aviation gas that make flying short hops expensive.
Yes, if you buy a Porsche, you will use it. Likewise a big SUV, which are increasingly common (though disastrously expensive to buy and use). But there just aren't a lot of those compared to the overall traffic. European traffic is not dominated by single drivers in 5-ton trucks as it is in the US.
There are even a few cases, such as in France, where short-hop flights have been banned where high speed rail is available.
Yes, it's a different place. The US is pretty much 3rd-world, at best, in comparison.
Then: there are taxes on the already-expensive jet fuel and aviation gas that make flying short hops expensive.
Yes, if you buy a Porsche, you will use it. Likewise a big SUV, which are increasingly common (though disastrously expensive to buy and use). But there just aren't a lot of those compared to the overall traffic. European traffic is not dominated by single drivers in 5-ton trucks as it is in the US.
There are even a few cases, such as in France, where short-hop flights have been banned where high speed rail is available.
Yes, it's a different place. The US is pretty much 3rd-world, at best, in comparison.
