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| Re: France's government offers to absorb $41 billion of SNCF's debt to end the ongoing strike (1476543) | |||
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Re: France's government offers to absorb $41 billion of SNCF's debt to end the ongoing strike |
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Posted by Nilet on Sun May 27 10:57:02 2018, in response to Re: France's government offers to absorb $41 billion of SNCF's debt to end the ongoing strike, posted by Broadway Lion on Sat May 26 18:55:43 2018. Ah... Passenger Trains?Well you see, the passenger business, that is the problem, now, isn't it? It does seem to me that all passenger business needs to be subsidized, from automobile to train to air plane. Exactly. So I guess you're a communist too, then? I guess I could make money running a passenger train, say the Long Island Rail Road, for example, but then the fares would indeed be quite a bit higher. So much so, that I could bet by with far fewer trains, employees and equipments, since most people could not afford to ride them. But of the ones who could, I dare say I could make a profit. In which case, you're basically running a tourist train, not a commuter train. The others can part their cares on the LIE and enjoy hours of non-start grid lock. Which is what we're trying to avoid. The cost of all that lost productivity and pollution is a hell of a lot higher than the cost of running the railroad. So if we want transportation to work for people, for the city, for the state, I suppose we had better find a better way to fund it. Exactly. Trouble is, there's only one way to fund it and it's the way that makes you and Olog reflexively say the word "communist" even though neither of you knows what it means. Of course we could bring back First Class coaches on the LIRR. You know, for those who would pay quite a bit more for comfortable travel to and from work. What the heck, if yo make six or seven digits of salary, perhaps you could afford special amenities. And there is nothing wrong with that as it would help fund the transportation of those who need to have reduced fares. See, *I* get a luxury class accommodation with complimentary continental breakfast, and those who need reduced fare can get that on my largess. Except that the LIRR had first-class accommodations for decades. It still wasn't enough to turn a profit. The SNCF also has first-class cars and they still need to be subsidised. It just isn't enough. |
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