Posted on 05/19/2015 4:52:36 PM PDT by presidio9
The Amtrak crash outside of Philadelphia was an invitation for practically every politician in the Northeast and every transit expert in America to complain about lack of funding for the county’s infrastructure.
They didn’t even wait to know what was the cause of the tragedy to take to the airwaves, and weren’t deterred when it emerged that the engineer had been going twice the speed limit around a tight curve when Amtrak Train 188 derailed.
They cared only for reciting the usual litany of laments for our “crumbling” infrastructure and our lack of high-speed rail, which is supposedly a stinging indictment of our shortsightedness and barbarity compared with our betters in Europe and Japan.
What these advocates rarely do is take account of Amtrak as it actually exists. It is a test case of a highly subsidized (and politicized) rail system.
Hideously inefficient and wasteful, Amtrak is rail brought to you by the federal government, with the results about what you would expect.
Amtrak is the DMV in an Uber world.
The system was slated for profitability in the 1970s, after a brief period of public subsidy. Not surprisingly, -SNIP-
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
A similar comparison map with Japan on it would be instructive, too!
Awesome references!
In terms of landmass, Japan is a little smaller than the state of Montana -with roughly 127 times the population.
We were in a German bed and breakfast about ten years ago and witnessed quite the conversation between the owner (a local German woman) and a middle aged California traveler. He was jaunting around with his Eurail pass, and bragging about how wonderful it was, wishing we had the European rail system in America. She listened courteously and in her very strongly accented English snorted "Geef me my car anytime, it's so much more convenient and efficient. You can get anywhere faster and easier." We were touring with a car, and fully understood and agreed with what she was saying.
I thought the eco-tourist was going to be apoplectic, thankfully he relented and simply moved on to the next town. Via taxi.
I stand confused?
The reference was to Atlas Shrugged.
Ayn Rand circa 1957.
ISBN 0-451-19114-5
A Mini Cooper can do pretty much the same at those speeds, and costs a whole lot less.
I picked it up: Hank Rearden and Wesley Mooch.
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