Philadelphia, PA/USA

[dillon]

It got out of passenger service years ago because passenger service couldn't make any money. People would rather fly. And they still do. I'm not against having bullet trains in the US, but if they can't be built or operated without government subsidies, they're just not worth it. They need to pay their own way.

Well, I am NOT someone who prefers to fly. I am one who would never set foot on an airplane again if there were equivalently subsidized public rail alternatives in the US. The airlines SUCK!! Outrageous fares, record profits, not a penny of the current fuel savings returned to passengers, wretched service where you are nickel-and-dimed for everything, and horrendous amounts of time spent waiting around airports.

And the worst part is being packed into spaces far too small for a full-grown man, barely big enough for a petite woman or a child. Hogs and cattle are legally protected from overcrowding in transport trucks. Why are people in airplanes not given the same legal consideration?

To say that passenger rail shouldn't be subsidized would make the US the ONLY first-world nation not to subsidize it. Let's not ignore the billions in hidden subsidies from states and local governments to keep air travel aloft, in many forms, not the least of which is financing bonds to build and modernize airports themselves. Then lets get to TSA and ATC, and the FAA national coordination of airspace for safety and security.Try making the airlines bear the cost of their airports alone, and the system will collapse under its costs.

Then consider the subsidization of highways. Fuel taxes that were supposed to maintain and modernize the highway system are falling short. states and cities being far better at building new projects to attract or placate powerful interests than at maintaining and improving existing roads. The Congrsss is currently debating how many billions of general revenue to kick into the Highway Fund to make up what they promised.

My last rail trip was a decade ago when I took The Carolinian from Raleigh to Charlotte. It added an hour over driving, but the train did make about six local stops along the way. The comfort difference between that and air travel was unbelievable. To have flown that modest distance, of course, would have meant spending more time waiting in the airport than the entire trip would have taken to drive. Airlines will NEVER have to give a damn about their passengers until we have real competing alternative transportation.

The EU handles around 450,000 rail passengers daily, China around 800,000. The US? Around 9,500. That is the difference in this country, with our subsidized airports, subsidized highways, but demagogic conservative politicians who denounce subsidizing rails primarily because of a partisan vendetta against Unions.

[crfriend]

Well, I am NOT someone who prefers to fly. I am one who would never set foot on an airplane again if there were equivalently subsidized public rail alternatives in the US. The airlines SUCK!! Outrageous fares, record profits, not a penny of the current fuel savings returned to passengers, wretched service where you are nickel-and-dimed for everything, and horrendous amounts of time spent waiting around airports.

And the worst part is being packed into spaces far too small for a full-grown man, barely big enough for a petite woman or a child. Hogs and cattle are legally protected from overcrowding in transport trucks. Why are people in airplanes not given the same legal consideration?

I'm another one who definitely prefers *NOT* to fly. I had to give it up back in 2000 following a serious bout with barotrauma following a flight from Denver to Boston that left me sick for a week. It was one thing when the airlines were mandated to properly pressurize the cabins to about 5,000 feet ASL, but those days are long gone and typical cabin pressure the last times I flew was quite reminiscent of what it was like at the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado (14,400 feet), although I suspect the actual cabin pressure is about 10,000 feet ASL effective -- enough to support life, but not enough to be safe nor comfortable.

The other main joy is that the seat pitch now is shorter than my femur length so sitting is neigh well impossible, nevermind being drattedly uncomfortable. Just put me on a train and I'll get there in a few days' time -- in a functional state instead of injured.

To say that passenger rail shouldn't be subsidized would make the US the ONLY first-world nation not to subsidize it. Let's not ignore the billions in hidden subsidies from states and local governments to keep air travel aloft, in many forms, not the least of which is financing bonds to build and modernize airports themselves.

Be careful not to mistake what the United States has become. It used to be first-world; now it's first-world only in name, and even then only for a tiny handful of the population.