I HATE TRAINS

Underappreciated.

1. Trains don't eliminate the need for cars & trucks entirely, so if you have tracks you still need roads.
2. Trains don't carry 1/1000th of what a ship does, so they don't eliminate the need for ships.
3. Trains aren't fast enough to eliminate the need for air travel.

The only thing trains are really the best at is shipping "small" amounts of bulk stuff like grain from farms to mills, or coal from mines to power plants. And even that often trucking is cheaper.

@cjd @pwm train tracks are also really expensive, so you pretty much have to know that a train track will be useful for the next 50+ years before it even makes sense to build it.

Eurofags love to brag about their trains and buses, but they never mention how the only reason they have any of that shit is because their income tax rate is 50%.

@ignika98 @pwm @lain @cjd nothing left to brag about. it's pretty shit now. even the 1st class highspeed trains have uncomfortable seats and the only food you can get is choclate bars and reheated sauages with mustard and a stale bread roll.

Interesting. I lived in eastern Europe for a while before moving back to the US and we never had any reliable public transport there. I haven't been to western Europe since the mid 2000s so I don't know how things have deteriorated. What I do know is every time someone goes to western Europe for uni they always come back RAVING about "muh hecking trainarinos!".

@ignika98 @pwm @lain @cjd i only have faint memories of trains being on schedule, going even when the weather isn't 20°C 1013mbar. also trains were much more cozy. there still are a few old cars who have seats with proper springs in them for cushioning, like old sofas. heating and windows which can be opened, not always defect A/C like it's now.