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In Europe, flying is cheaper than taking the train.

It's an embarrassment, and a major problem: we have to stop flying for silly short distances. Realise that the overheads of flying (reaching the airport, awaiting 2 hours, the flight, the unloading, reaching the destination) largely cancel out any time gains of flying. And the carbon costs are utterly untenable. Not to speak of the modern, dire conditions of the whole flying "experience".

Another embarrassment is that train connections can't be guaranteed when across countries or companies. They aren't even coordinated. As if those who commission and set the schedules didn't travel by train themselves, at least not internationally. In considering how tiny most European countries are, it's frankly bizarre.

There are so many destinations one could travel by train to, yet in practice, it's not sensible. A disgrace.

The upside is that it can be fixed.

#trains #EuroRail

#trains #eurorail

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in reply to Albert Cardona

Mikołaj Hołysz
Mikołaj Hołysz
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The unsaid part of this is that the cheap airlines are private (and hence efficient), while most train companies are either public or semi-public, and hence both expensive and inefficient. If you take a look at Polish train prices, which aren't that bad compared to other places, going by car instead becomes more affordable at 3 to 4 people, assuming normal tickets. This makes no sense, there's no way a car is more efficient than a train.

Mikołaj Hołysz reshared this.

in reply to Mikołaj Hołysz

kittens!
kittens!
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@miki do you know what privatization did to British railroads by chance?
@Mikołaj Hołysz
in reply to kittens!

kittens!
kittens!
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@miki do you know how much subsidies European goverments provide to airline companies by chance?
@Mikołaj Hołysz
in reply to kittens!

Mikołaj Hołysz
Mikołaj Hołysz
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@cybertailor Do the cheap airlines get any of these? I was under the impression that most subsidies go to the expensive state-owned enterprises like Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways or Lot.
@kittens!
in reply to Mikołaj Hołysz

Raff Karva
Raff Karva
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@miki
Cheap air travel IS NOT due the public/private split.

Cheap air travel is due to government subsidies. Why do *private* airlines get taxpayer subsidised fuel in the first place?

Germany has the best and cheapest train system I used in Europe - all public.

England trains are all private and their service is atrocious and crazy expensive.

Private companies think only about profit. Expensive crap services = profit for shareholders.

@Mikołaj Hołysz
in reply to Raff Karva

Raff Karva
Raff Karva
• •

@miki
There is a prevailing belief in Poland that private is good, public is bad.

This has nothing to do with the reality and it stems from post communist attitudes.

If you want to see the true difference between private and public operations look at English vs Scottish Water companies.

Or German public trains vs English private trains.

Private companies have only one goal - to sell cheap products & services for as much money as possible.

@Mikołaj Hołysz
in reply to Raff Karva

Raff Karva
Raff Karva
• •

@miki
Thatcher’s government privatised water in England 35 years ago. Scottish water remained fully public during this time.

I don’t think there has been a better case study to compare private vs public ownership.

weownit.org.uk/public-ownershi…


It's time to take back our water

Let's bring our water into public ownership.
We Own It
@Mikołaj Hołysz
in reply to Raff Karva

Mikołaj Hołysz
Mikołaj Hołysz
• •
@RaffKarva Water (and other similar utilities, like electricity / internet / TV cables) are somewhat different, because you can't just lay new pipes / cables without government approval, and even if you could, it would be far too expensive. If one monopolist owns all the pipes and no other competitor can realistically lay more, there's nothing stopping the monopolist from raising the prices beyond all reason. This is why I'm not opposed to the government owning train track, undecided on them owning stations and related infrastructure, but definitely against public ownership of the actual trains and railroad companies themselves.
@Raff Karva
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