191–200 of 239 posts
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For the fattening of animals intended as food it’s typically accepted grammar to use “fatted” as in a “fatted pig”. Same as “datums” is correct in some contexts.
> it’s typically accepted grammar to use “fatted” as in a “fatted pig” no it ain't, it's extremely out-of-mode
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"Public rail is a money-losing venture" So are public schools, public hospitals and national defence. But they are enablers of everything else that we do and the actual purpose of government and taxes. Public transport needs to be as efficient as it can be while providing the services needed . There are additional benefits like providing a training environment for trades, ensuring that a heavy engineering skillbase i…
The government should not be engaging in money losing ventures to provide services that private companies will provide at no cost (other than point of service cost) to taxpayers. If they want to run a jobs program then fine, run a jobs program. Don't pretend your jobs program is an infrastructure program though. I have no problem with the government spending tax money on things, that's kind of its job, but resources…
Like the private train companies that run around handing free rides to everyone?
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Because the alternative to rail is cars. Cars don't scale to the level needed in cities. They also pollute a lot and kill a lot of people in accidents. Everybody benefits from fewer cars on the road.
>Because the alternative to rail is cars. // Going by air is an alternative to rail for some journeys [eg within UK] too. Edinburgh-London for example.
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> Separating track, rolling stock and station building into three different companies was nuts. Public subsidy plummeted after privatisation, until inadequate maintenance was identified as cause of the Hatfield crash. Then reached never before seen peaks. They're still fiddling around to try and remove the systemic consequences of how it was privatised. Nothing that even slightly resembles the integrated transport Th…
> If so, it would mean the EU & UK approach of separating the track and train companies is very foolish. Yet it works fine for air travel, where the airports, air traffic services and airlines are all separate and charges are transparent.
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The government should not be engaging in money losing ventures to provide services that private companies will provide at no cost (other than point of service cost) to taxpayers. If they want to run a jobs program then fine, run a jobs program. Don't pretend your jobs program is an infrastructure program though. I have no problem with the government spending tax money on things, that's kind of its job, but resources…
> services that private companies will provide at no cost to taxpayers Like the private train companies that run around handing free rides to everyone?
Well good for them that they've found an alternate way to be profitable.
If said profitability comes from a poorly spec'd out contract that somehow lets them screw the government out of money instead of charging people for the service then that's a corruption and integrity of public officials problem
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Leases that short must make getting a mortgage hard.
When the lease is about to run out, it means you need to reserve money for that, meaning the price of the house will be lower. I think you can still use the mortgage to pay for that lease. So overall it doesn't make much difference, it's just an extra thing to pay attention to, or you'll end up with unexpected costs.
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If the lease is set to expire in twenty years, can you know in advance how much it will cost to renew, so that you can include it in the mortgage? If so, then it doesn't really seem to help the city to capture the gains that may have accrued over those years. If not, what happens if the lease now costs much more and you can't afford it? Do you get kicked out of the house?
In the UK, usually you negotiate for the occupier to refresh the lease before concluding the sale. After 50 years, you'll probably be dead so you don't have to worry about lease renewal (in the UK the standard leasehold is 99 years, so you'll definitely be dead by then). If you were due for a renewal, and you didn't have the funds to pay the fee, you'd remortgage. If you were very wise, you'd take out an insurance po…
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I think we should stop counting profit as “how much tickets you sold” minus “how much money you spent”, but look at the effects of a public train system on the whole economy. I grew up in the Alps and I can guarantee that certain very profitable touristic locations wouldn’t even remotely work if there was no affordable and reliable train network that connected them to a airport, unless you want to turn some alpine ar…
That wasn't my point. I only highlighted the fact that indeed they operate at a loss and the companies themselves or the price of the ticket are partially funded/subsidized by the state. This is why I suggested they don't make a profit "in real terms", meaning actual profit in the company's financial report, not indirect effects. You don't seem to contradict this despite the downvote. The point was not to debate whet…
Sorry if I misrepresented your post.
Meanwhile, the UK is still trying to get trains to run on time... https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/train-t...
Northern's timetable problems seem to stem from overrunning engineering work by the nationalised provider, coupled with stock shortages, and an insistence by the government on getting rid of guards
Admittably they don't help themselves by refusing to employ enough staff to run all the trains without requiring overtime, a hangover from the BR days.
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Generally we all agree that flying when you could use the train is a very bad thing.
A new generation of electric planes could change that. And a lot of the cross country fleet is diesel anyway and produces CO2 and other emissions.