Meanwhile in North America, Canada’s VIA is operating on a shoestring and being further threatened … and in the last 50 years the US has pulled up most of the rails that were installed in the previous century. We’re stuck with airplanes, hybrid metro-transit, and what’s left of Greyhound. But, hey, we’ve got a world to police!
It’s an effect that our conservatives from CDU and CSU as well as liberals from FDP are denying to exist and are decrying the fact that it costs money (and helps the average guy, but they can’t say that out loud)
That is why we can’t have nice things. Everything needs to make a profit and cannot simply be good.
Infrastructure shoudn’t be required to make a profit. They are there for the public good. What’s next? Paying for sitting on public benches and entering public parks? Paying for the privilege to exit your house and use the public sidewalk? We already have to pay to use public toilets in some cases…
These things should be available to everyone for free and build and financed via general taxes.