From today's newspaper: someone who thinks like I do!
Copied exactly as printed:
Backward on rail
It is a well-known fact that European countries are continually upgrading and increasing their essential train services.
Anyone who has travelled in Europe will have experienced the convenience and speed of these fast trains.
Trains are less environmentally damaging, they get polluting cars off the road and lessen traffic chaos and gridlocks.
So why is this state and this country so backward that we still have politicians spending millions on roads and destroying hundreds of trees as a result?
Where is the economic rationale in that or the care for our biodiversity?
Many people are in despair at how this country is being run. No imagination and no foresight appears to be the order of the day, and we and our environment are all suffering as a result.
A change of direction is desperately needed.
ALEX HODGES, Birdwood.
If Alex reads this and wants me to remove it, leave me a comment and I will take it down.
He didn't mention the other problem, which is the number of heavy weight trucks, semis and road trains which are frequently in accidents, and also doing damage to our roads which were never built to take such weights in the first place. Get these cargoes back onto freight trains and use smaller trucks at each delivery end to take the goods to the required warehouses to be distributed in the towns.
REINSTATE OUR RAIL SYSTEM, particularly to rural regions.
Discuss.....
Backward on rail
It is a well-known fact that European countries are continually upgrading and increasing their essential train services.
Anyone who has travelled in Europe will have experienced the convenience and speed of these fast trains.
Trains are less environmentally damaging, they get polluting cars off the road and lessen traffic chaos and gridlocks.
So why is this state and this country so backward that we still have politicians spending millions on roads and destroying hundreds of trees as a result?
Where is the economic rationale in that or the care for our biodiversity?
Many people are in despair at how this country is being run. No imagination and no foresight appears to be the order of the day, and we and our environment are all suffering as a result.
A change of direction is desperately needed.
ALEX HODGES, Birdwood.
If Alex reads this and wants me to remove it, leave me a comment and I will take it down.
He didn't mention the other problem, which is the number of heavy weight trucks, semis and road trains which are frequently in accidents, and also doing damage to our roads which were never built to take such weights in the first place. Get these cargoes back onto freight trains and use smaller trucks at each delivery end to take the goods to the required warehouses to be distributed in the towns.
REINSTATE OUR RAIL SYSTEM, particularly to rural regions.
Discuss.....
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Yes.
ReplyDeleteAnd please, please take a long view (longer than the election cycle).
Elephant's Child; a far reaching view to when Australia has more people in the small towns and rural areas also, rail will open up the country not only to new immigrants, but to tourists as well.
DeleteI think our train system is also underused.
ReplyDeletejoeh; we barely have a train system, rail lines to regional cities and towns were discontinued decades ago. If I want to visit my sister in a mid-northern town I now have to take a four hour bus ride instead of a two hour train because the train bypasses her town altogether now.
DeleteOften think if we here in Tasmania had passenger trains it would be good, but in our case people would be there in their cars quicker because we don't have the traffic as you do...but it would be much improved for the environment.
ReplyDeleteMargaret D; Tassie is a lot smaller, but even there trains could take much of the freight now carried by overly large trucks.
DeleteThat's what i've wanted to see happen over here, too. Sad that it just won't, the trucking industry is too big a lobby.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; here too I think the trucking industry has got too big for its boots, with drivers being urged to get there faster and many relying on drugs to stay awake with the resulting accidents when they get too "stoned". That on top of too many trucks being too heavy for roads that were built for cars.
DeleteWhen I had an hour commute to the city, I continually hoped that the train system would be extended to a smaller city 30 miles out. I would have gladly parked and ridden the train halfway. It's still being discussed...25 years later.
ReplyDeleteVal; how many committees does it take to discuss something for 25+ years? The more they talk, the more they get paid, while the people suffer.
DeleteRiver! ";-)"
ReplyDeleteThree years ago a Perth friend had to deliver something (job-related) to Wiesbaden (some 600+ km away from me).
He chatted: "The train stopped. No idea why, guy next to me does not speak English, cannot explain".
...
"I´m outside now, something wrong with the train. It´s cold and windy."
And on it went.
I have another friend in Perth, he thinks we´re so advanced, yet, every time we visit Perth we see... we are not advanced in Germany.
Transperth, the Perth train- and bus-system: perfect!!!
But I get your picture.
Rural might be different. We sure had a car when travelling in Australia.
But Europe... Yes, we have a system. Also into rural places.
There even is a song on how bad the service is!
Summer: no aircon. Winter: no heating (often, not always!).
From home to Frankfurt (2-3 hours) we often had to sit on the ground. They sell tickets and have not enough places (yes, these days us old guys pay extra to get one).
A darn colleague (and I admit we laughed every time) took the train daily. Hannover > Wolfsburg.
A couple of times (plural!!!, it was in the news!) he called from Berlin! "The train did not stop in Wolfsburg!" (Yipeee, the jerk won´t be here for some time (yes, mean, but he was a jerk)).
We once took friend´s kids with us to Hamburg. The train back did not arrive. In the evening, with kids! We were told, "hey, wait another hour, next one might come.". Might!!!
"Zzzank you for Trrravelling Wissss Deutsche Bahn". (That´s how "English" often is pronounced here).
Sorry, you picked my nerve here. I HATE trains here, for a reason and I wonder:
Where did you get the information, or, "LOL", did it say:
"Europe minus Germany"? THAT would make sense! I guess.
But I get your picture. For the environment it would be better. But... it has to pay off... do people want to wait for ... oh, I have no idea, really.
Iris Flavia; I don't know where this "Alex" got his/her information, but I am sorry to hear train service in Germany is not good. They could at least add more carriages so everyone can have a seat. Sometimes here, the trains are overcrowded, mostly when people are getting to work or going home, or when there is an event happening in the city. The tram is more often overcrowded. But if you want to leave Adelaide and go to another city even in your own state, there are no trains. There is one to Melbourne in Victoria, but the government wants to shut that down. Now I'm wondering just which parts of Europe the original writer meant.
DeleteMotherhood stuff for me. I completely agree with both you and Alex, but add to that population control. While your city is not suffering, Melbourne and Sydney certainly are, with a reduction of of our quality of life.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I agree Sydney and Melbourne are very crowded, but be thankful you don't live in Tokyo where people are crammed in like sardines. Population control is a problem everywhere, with our government wanting more people to come and live in Adelaide. Silly of them, since they closed factories and businesses, so why would anyone come to where they can't get work?
DeleteI'm with Joeh. We definitely do not use the rail systems as they should and truck/car accidents are way too many. We have lawyers who specialize in those types of collisions only.
ReplyDeleteArkansas Patti; in an ideal world, governments would provide decent service AND the people would use it, and just maybe the poor road crash lawyers would go out of business.
DeleteWe have no passenger rail in this country and I doubt we ever will.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; NO passenger rail?? None at all? That's sad to even think about, it means everyone has to rely on buses or own a car. No wonder America has so many freeways.
Delete