Quote:
Originally Posted by Jibartik
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Like if both had no goverment assistance, you think that trains would beat out airlines?
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If we had no government assistance we might well still mostly have dirt roads. Our highways are obviously government-maintained for the most part. Most of the major U.S. railroads, including all but a couple of the transcons, were heavily subsidized via government loans and/or land-grants*. Passenger rail, in particular, only existed in comprehensive form far into the 20th century because the ICC required the railroads to maintain the service (which usually lost money, even back into the 19th century) otherwise it would've died out even sooner than it did. The experience is the same in nearly any nation, and those nations which did not heavily subsidize their transportation networks usually suffer badly for it.
*If you want amusing reading sometime, look through archived newspaper editorials from the 1860's and 70's and you'll see opposition to railroad subsidy in much the same form as today: "It won't pay!" "It's a railroad through useless wilderness!" etc, etc. Times and technology change, people stay the same. So does the grifting. Look at the Union Pacific railroad's construction contractors and the Credit Mobilier scandal as prime example.
Danth