From: cough@flulikesymptoms.org   
      
   XPost: nyc.politics, soc.women, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
      
   On 02/04/2015 06:48 AM, de Blasfail wrote:   
      
   > Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the   
   > Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about   
   > 280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut.   
   >   
   > Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the   
   > Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about   
   > 280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut.   
      
   Stupid crash aside, am I the ONLY westerner who wonders why the   
   east coast enjoys such lavish rail service while western states   
   have almost no rail service at all?   
      
   I live in America, I pay taxes that subsidize goddamn Amtrak, yet   
   there is no train service between my hick town and anywhere.  I   
   visited Europe several years ago, and trains were everywhere!  Not   
   so in America, where I have to DRIVE 300 fuckin' miles to catch   
   a train from there to Chicago.  And looking at the fares vs. the   
   cost of driving -- and hotels -- driving comes out to be cheaper!   
   (And I don't have to rent a car upon reaching my destination!)   
      
   Americans whine about the cost of gasoline, but then I drive 120   
   miles to Las Vegas on a routine basis, and can't help but notice   
   that the majority of passenger cars, and big-rig trucks, have   
   only one or two passengers inside.  A single train could have   
   transported all of them (vehicles included) for a tenth of the   
   cost of burning all the combustion fuel needed to transport each   
   and every one of them individually.   
      
   The USA is unique among industrialized countries for its lack of a   
   comprehensive energy policy.  Civilization runs on energy, therefore   
   securing and maintaining a reliable source of energy should be the   
   highest priority.  Not in America, though.  Low oil prices?  Let's   
   cut the gasoline tax, and borrow more money from China to pay for   
   road maintenance!  China has a vested interest in loaning America   
   money to maintain the highways that its tanks will soon be rolling   
   down.   
      
   --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03   
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