• @QualifiedKitten@discuss.online
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    2122 hours ago

    As an American living in a region with halfway decent (by American standards) public transit, I feel like I hear more comments aligned with the European side than the American side. If public transit has literally any downsides, that’s justification enough to drive for so many people.

        • @melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          29 hours ago

          okay but do you run on overhead wire or third rail power, and how many people can be inside you at once? none of this ‘individual pods’ shit, please.

          • Amon
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            15 hours ago

            First answer: neither: it runs on coal.

            Second answer: 2, fireman and driver

            BTW 2-8-0 means 2 leading wheels 8 driving wheels and no trailing wheels.

            Like this bad boy:

          • @ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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            28 hours ago

            I’m so hot, I’m constantly steaming. I’m generally a workhouse, carrying all that freight. Moving vast amount of passengers is no sweat for me.

            • @melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              5 hours ago

              passengers getting in and out of you every few minutes. men, women, anyone, hundreds at a time, from cities across the nation? slowly, gently, unceasingly for as long as 20 hours at a time?

              thank you for helping me make trains a sex thing. I feel like it’s our last hope.

              • @ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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                13 hours ago

                If you want people getting off quickly, you want those young, third rail trains.

                I’m all about keeping people on for the long haul. I’m all the journey over long distances.

    • @LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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      722 hours ago

      Although the US and Europe are nearly identical in area, Europe’s population centers are far more uniformly distributed. Big cities in America are mostly around the edges, with a vast, sparsely populated area in the middle. Most intercity train service in America is in that fringe, where the spacing between cities is more like in Europe.

      • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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        312 hours ago

        Sure, intercity will never work in the US. Except on both coasts. And upper Midwest. And in a couple mountain and high desert areas. Dammit, that’s like 70% of the population

        • @LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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          21 hours ago

          True, but the post is about trains being on schedule (or showing up at all), not about speed. I wasn’t saying US trains service is as good as European.

          • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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            212 hours ago

            Is this a “glass half full” thing? Can a non-existent train never be late or never be in time?

            • @LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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              23 hours ago

              No, it’s not a value judgement of any kind. Imagine that - just making an observation with no implications or underlying opinion to swipe left/right on. What a concept.

          • @AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world
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            621 hours ago

            Yeah, I just see that said a lot and think its a bad excuse for having bad service.

            Especially when we had much better service 100 years ago, with a fraction of the modern day population.

            • @LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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              23 hours ago

              100 years ago was also before the era of profit hyper-optimization, which it turns out de-optimizes every other aspect of a thing.