Originally Posted by
Roughstuff
Amen! Death to rail. Worldwide only Paris-Lyon and Tokyo-Osaka pay their own way; the rest are pathetic sycophants taking money from low budget commuters so that envirowhackos can soothe their fossil fuel guilt. I am glad you did not say "hi speed rail...." last time I looked the planned speed for these trains is...drum roll please....85 miles per hour (when they are moving. Time lost during stops is omitted.)
As for grant money, amen to turning it down. A billion dollar grant leads to a decades long commitment to track maintenance and subsidies for trains no one take. Bait and switch big time.
Our culture isn't currently set up for rail, like say Japan is. There I didn't even have to lock my bike when leaving it at the train station to spend a day or a weekend in Hiroshima or Osaka. Here, you're lucky to find a place to lock your bike at the station, and it will probably be gone or trashed when you get back.
If we want to adopt some of the infrastructure and methods that work in other cultures, our first step is to adapt our culture and how we live, rather than visa-versa.
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"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey