They're building high speed rails connecting major European cities as we speak, we'll be good

Do you happen to use Dvorak?

Sorry for the random question out of this air, but the in/is typo is something that happens a lot to me while being nearly impossible on "standard" keyboard layouts.

China sees investment in mass transit as a loss leader. It costs more to put in than it generates in fairs, but the boost to connected economic zones pays back the cost several times over.

The US sees investment in mass transit as a detriment to the airline, automotive, and fossil fuel industries. It would shrink the economy in three places where the nation has tried to goose growth for the last 60 years.

If you're on a long tube that travels quickly on the ground from one city to another, and everyone is talking in Spanish, you're in a train.

If you're in a long tube that travels quickly on the air from one city to another, and everyone is talking English, you're on a plane

I’ve heard flights are sometimes also late or even cancelled

Apparently Germany's problem is that they run all the high-speed trains on the normal lines which means all of the normal trains have to work around them. Obviously you can't have a normal train in front of a high-speed train so if the high-speed train is delayed by even a small amount it has a knock-on effect where a bunch of local service trains have to sit around waiting for the line to clear.

Everyone else runs high-speed rail on their own tracks. So everyone gets to do what they want and not affect anybody else.

The French do it better than the Germans, which is just not an acceptable state of affairs.

50 minutes isn't that bad tbh. I dont remember the last time I flew that there wasn't a delay. Hell even the whole arriving 2 hours before ,finding parking, going through security is all so much more of a hassle.

I'd much rather walk 5 minutes to the local subway head to the hauptbahnhof and wait 50 extra minutes for my train. I can at least go get a reasonably priced coffee while I wait.

AmTrak is designed to suck. Freight lines own most of the rails, and while they are required to give priority to passenger trains, they avoid this in several ways. Like having the freight trains too long to fit on side rails so the passenger trains are required to stop instead to make way.

Flying is way cheaper in Europe. Partially because trains are taxed much higher than flying.

Not always. Flying from Amsterdam to London is cheaper and faster than taking the train. The train is usually sold out because people still prefer it, but...

Anybody who is making money off existing transportation is going to be against public transportation. Cab companies lobby against rail everywhere, from city to burbs or airport to downtown. Trucking, for obvious reasons. Passenger rail can carry cargo at night. And of course anybody selling fuel to the mass of cars, the petro industry.

They are just very short sighted. Just lobby to have a station and a have commuter stops and people will flock to those "cheaper" areas to live bringing in tons of tax revenue and boosting the local economy.

that is such an absurd and pointless reality

That is so odd... I've only ridden Amtrak a few times, but I was amazed at how many stops were just some small town that happened to lie on the rail line.

Most small towns that lie on a major highway and are supported by commuter traffic are only going to support a truck stop and a few fast food restaurants at best. Sure, a true high speed rail line would likely only stop in larger metropolitan areas, so those meager income sources may dwindle. But on the other hand if I were a rail commuter in one of those rural/suburban areas, I'd be much more likely to spend some time doing a bit of shopping or lingering in a restaurant during that transition from the train to my car after work, than if I were just passing through in my car.

Tough luck, that's the free market at work

Because they don't give a shit about driving? They care a lot more about their family members that own car dealerships, or are involved with the petrochemical industry.

Or they saw that American rightwing grifters talk like this so they are cargo culting the fuck out?

!fuckcars@lemmy.world

woah i wouldn't pay for that

Also true in many cases in Europe.

You can get a flight ticket for under 20€ between Germany and UK (RyanAir), and have to pay tenfold that for a train ticket.

Or a 30€ ticket to Romania per plane. Booking a train to Romania is much more difficult and expensive and also easily over 100€.

I would wish that train tickets are cheaper than plane tickets, but if you cross country borders, booking train tickets becomes expensive and difficult in Europe.