• 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    7 hours ago

    This image works for canada as well, 😭😭😭

    I hate living next to the US… we take all their bad ideas and almost none of the good ones

  • strop@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    2 hours ago

    Also, trains don’t really exist, let’s not waste time on would-be tech

  • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    10·
    1 day ago

    I just wish there was a way I could frighten pedestrians or throw waste out the windows on trains. I really like doing these things in my truck and would hate to give that up.

    • Godric@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      23 hours ago

      If I can’t nail someone upside the head with a pissgallon while I drive over their toddler, I’m frankly disinterested

  • cardboardboxfort@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    23 hours ago

    Trains work great in the USA. We didn’t invent them but we’ve sure had our way with them.

    • We have thousands of miles of track which ships millions of tons of freight every year.
    • We have a system of moving passengers around the country which, while not perfect, still manages to function despite multiple alternatives.
    • We have thousands of miles of commuter trains around metropolises that move people to the city and out of the city everyday.
    • We have above ground light rail trolleys in some places, though not as many as we once had.
    • We have multiple kinds of underground trains; ones that move people through subways and ones that move material out of mines.
    • We even have trains that are purely for entertainment value, usually called heritage railroads or tourist trains.
    • Oh and lots of airports have a small automatically controlled train that ferries passengers along the terminals.
    • kestrel7_7@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 hours ago

      The USA has the largest passenger rail network on earth… if you’re willing to hop freight. Schedules & customer service leave something to be desired.

      • cardboardboxfort@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 hours ago

        And the precursors to the freight companies were often the railroad companies themselves who at one time offered passenger service until the services became unprofitable. Society killed mass passenger service. The government then bailed them out and created a subsidized passenger rail service, which the public widely mocked for decades, because car culture was king.

        And while this was happening the more profitable sectors of passenger railroads in the USA (big city subways/trolleys and metropolis rail) were actually profitable and experienced a continued growth for the most part. Amtrak still has its problems but has achieved some success in these areas (east coast is better suited for passenger rail and sure enough Amtraks most popular lines are on the east coast.)

  • mEEGal@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    1 day ago

    wait wait wait wait wait wait wait

    fuck cars obviously but more than 250 million PER MILE sounds like it was taken out of “tales from the 1923 hyperinflation”.

    I assume it was the full cost, not the cost per mile

      • mEEGal@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        1 day ago

        holy f-ing shit!

        I know in France, ten-ish years ago, high speed rail cost about 1 Million € per km… even if it increased ten fold, that still would be roughly about 20 MILLION per mile.

        insane ! either I’m missing something crucial, or you guys are getting ripped off

        • Jiral@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          Most of that cost is not from construction itself, not even from buying the land, it is legal (a lot of openly anti-rail legislation intended to inflate costs and risks), red tape, judicial stuff, frequent replanning due to insecure funding, political infighting …

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      8·
      1 day ago

      They could but we sold all the rail to corporations if they promised to let the people go in front of freight. Then don’t bother enforcing that.

    • kestrel7_7@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      7 hours ago

      There are trains where you can check your car… the Auto-train between DC and Florida is one example.

      • Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        I know just like I know I can air cargo my car but the idea of the clerk asking if I’ll be checking anything and replying with something like yea my VW makes me smile.