Stick to ruining Trainorders Wrote:
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> 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.
>
> There are basically 2 ways to cut the city-city
> time for a train: shorten the route, or go faster.
> Obviously, doing both is best. And the final
> result is always a compromise - if "direct" means
> digging a long, deep mountain tunnel and "less
> direct, but still good for a reasonable speed" is
> only a bit longer but less expensive to build,
> less direct wins.
>
> The Europeans seems to be better at making those
> compromises than the Americans.
>
>
> You must not have valid points if you can't make
> them without always resorting to hype. You tell
> stories as accurately and believable as Joe Biden.

What's got your multiple persoaltity disorder going off tonight Nancy? Did someone else make a lucid observation that you don't like?