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Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

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Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#141

Post by Aeolun »

ggm wrote: post #114
wpdev_63 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem with the US interstate train system is that it's run on freight train lines. Amtrak and Acela do not actually own the railway they use and they can only go a certain speed due to the grade of the track. I don't think you would be willing to pay the amount of taxes you would need to, to completely redo the railways haha. Anyways Amtrak are barely turning a profit as it is and while it would be great t…

> I don't think you would be willing to pay the amount of taxes you would need to, to completely redo the railways haha. This premise feels wrong: The Swiss, German, Chinese, Spanish experience is that people pay to have high speed rail services, and the G20 economies in that list pay high marginal rates of taxes just fine, for this outcome. The "you" here is conditionally the "you" of current social mores America. I…

Or, you know, just spend 5% less on the military :)

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#143

Post by Melting_Harps »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

> I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet).

The thing is its not just the taxes you'll be paying for, its the fare on top of that. It gets really costly if its your only form of transportation, and even with a Halb-tax card it can be pretty expensive. I did it for a year while living and working in Switzerland, and the CHF was pegged to the EUR, so in certain places I just risked it and jumped the tram fare into the city, which I'm told by my friend who worked at the SBB is a bad idea as they have cameras everywhere and could 'in theory' compare it against your halbtax card ID.

The SBB is super convenient and punctual, though; going to Zurich airport from just about anywhere in Switzerland is possible with nothing more than just a tram or bus ride to the nearest Bahnhof. But Switzerland is a tiny country compared to the large sprawling US. And just look at the absurdity with the train that was supposed to connect LA and and SF at $77 Billion. But having dealt with plenty of phantom last trains and having to sleep at the bahnhofs makes me paranoid, I slept at Basel bahnhof like 5 times and at Bern I must have stayed 2 times overnight in the freezing cold with several layers on.

Its funny how all the youth had to have driver licensees, and no cars, and how most just got a halb-tax card from their employer or the Government to get to school or work. The costs to own and fuel a car are obscene by US standards in Switzerland too.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#144

Post by dkdk8283 »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

Lock stock and barrel against tax hikes. Having previously profited from a public project this kind of thinking will just legally mandate you get less money in your paycheck. There is an incredible amount of waste.

Call me naive but I think it’s better to keep those dollars and save for a flight.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#145

Post by umvi »

Aeolun wrote: post #141
ggm wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think you would be willing to pay the amount of taxes you would need to, to completely redo the railways haha. This premise feels wrong: The Swiss, German, Chinese, Spanish experience is that people pay to have high speed rail services, and the G20 economies in that list pay high marginal rates of taxes just fine, for this outcome. The "you" here is conditionally the "you" of current social mores America. I…

Or, you know, just spend 5% less on the military :)

From what I understand other countries (especially EU) essentially contract out defense to the US for economical reasons (i.e. so they can afford to spend more of their budget on social services and less on military). If US cuts military budget it means EU will have to increase military budget by more than the US cut to make up for it.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#146

Post by vosper »

Melting_Harps wrote: post #143
singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

> I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). The thing is its not just the taxes you'll be paying for, its the fare on top of that. It gets really costly if its your only form of transportation, and even with a Halb-tax card it can be pretty expensive. I did it for a year while living and working in Switze…

> And just look at the absurdity with the train that was supposed to connect LA and and SF at $77 Billion

The California High Speed Rail line is supposed to be 1,300km long. That's more like Paris to Budapest in distance, or another way of thinking, it's 1/3rd of the total railway length in Switzerland - imagine building that from scratch, today. But with earthquakes (and presumably, now, fires). I'm not defending it, but it's a very big project, it was never going to be cheap.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#147

Post by zelly »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

With a car you can go anywhere.

Who needs a train?

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#148

Post by csande17 »

supernova87a wrote: post #129
tvb12 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll probably always take the train into Boston. Even though it's a little more expensive than taking a greyhound or driving (if I can find parking), I don't like to drive in Boston. However, if I needed to go much further I'd be in a bind. The website is really difficult to use at times. I was trying to get to Maryland(?) at one point to buy a used car, but I couldn't find a page that would show me stations near whe…

The UI of the Amtrak fare / ticket finding website is terrible.

The website is bad, but phoning Amtrak actually worked pretty well for me! There wasn't much of a wait, the staff were friendly and knowledgeable, and they were able to really quickly plan out complicated routes with multiple transfers and compare different options. (One wonders if they could make whatever fancy planning/booking system they use available to the public.)

Admittedly this was a couple years ago, so it's possible COVID or budget cuts have changed things for the worse.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#149

Post by javiramos »

mattkrause wrote: post #64
wpdev_63 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem with the US interstate train system is that it's run on freight train lines. Amtrak and Acela do not actually own the railway they use and they can only go a certain speed due to the grade of the track. I don't think you would be willing to pay the amount of taxes you would need to, to completely redo the railways haha. Anyways Amtrak are barely turning a profit as it is and while it would be great t…

That's true if you consider all of Amtrak. The Northeast Corridor, which the GP is talking about, is a bit of a special case. Amtrak owns the tracks from NY to DC (states own the CT/MA part) and they're good enough to go a bit faster than the otherwise-usual 79 mph speed limit. This part of Amtrak is, IIRC, fairly profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Corridor In the rest of the country, Amtrak is indee…

This is 2014 profitability data per route: http://reasonrail.blogspot.com/2014/11/amtrak-routes-by-2014...

Pretty much all routes lose money except the Acela and Northeast Regional routes.

Re: Stable 1.2 Gigabit/s Internet achieved in moving train in Switzerland

#150

Post by nemanja »

singhrac wrote: post #4

I would honestly pay significantly higher taxes if we could get Swiss-quality train service in parts of the US (and especially if they have good internet). When I traveled Boston to NY in the past, compare my flight experience vs Amtrak. Flight: - Take $25 Uber to airport and get there 1 hour early to go through security and wait. - Fly to JFK (1h 20m) - land, wait to get off, go through terminal again, then take $50…

Switzerland in fact has significantly lower taxes in most cantons than most (all?) states in the U.S. I am afraid higher taxes would simply yield more mediocre Amtrak.
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