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danielchillier t1_jbyxo3o wrote

The UK government struggling to get HS2 built for that amount.

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idontwanttofthisup t1_jbzcrc1 wrote

You have no clue how fucked it is inside. Source? I’m one of their subcontractors + my mate builds underground stations for SCS railways. It is an administrative disaster. Getting something done with them takes ages and months later it’s still fucked.

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OfromOceans t1_jbzxgsu wrote

The right wing UK government sold our railway infrastructure TO Europe....

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cragglerock93 t1_jc0tpt1 wrote

Which railway infrastructure were you thinking of? I believe Network Rail owns every single station and every mile of track. HS1 might be an exception.

Are you confusing the railway franchises with the infratructure?

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The_FireFALL t1_jc0ci0i wrote

And pulled over £100 million out of the NWR budget. Pretty much doing whatever they can to destroy the railway.

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alternatingflan t1_jc37zld wrote

Don’t let happened to the rails in the US destroy Europe’s rails too!

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Practical-Jelly-5320 t1_jbz419k wrote

Learning from U.S.'s mistakes

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SG4LPilgrim t1_jbzch0l wrote

It isn’t hard, we make a lot.

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Mundane-Ad-6874 t1_jbzf33u wrote

Especially since building railways is pretty easy in most of the country. US has the big 3: vacant flat land. Shit we could probably bang it out in a weekend. However bailouts are cooler according to the top 1%

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SG4LPilgrim t1_jbzis14 wrote

My dream is a politician comes up and says “Yo we’re doing an interstate rail system” and just opens fire about having more jobs easily accessible to people, the trillions of dollars that will be injected into the economy paying construction workers and journeyman, and how states will directly benefit from boosted tourism on the first guy that tries to talk against it.

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Mundane-Ad-6874 t1_jbzmmu2 wrote

Just before 08 crash. My state has a fund for a train to the ski areas from the airport. It would have made our tourism boom. The $6-7B we had for the project disappeared and the plans abandoned.

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munchi333 t1_jbztuv9 wrote

Building railways in the US Is not easy lol. Just take a look at California high speed rail.

Eminent domain is extremely expensive and time consuming.

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Mundane-Ad-6874 t1_jbztzye wrote

“Most of the country is vacant flat land.” Most of the country isn’t California.

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munchi333 t1_jbzum7g wrote

Most of the locations for California high speed rail is “vacant flat land”

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Mundane-Ad-6874 t1_jbzv7p5 wrote

Californias average home cost is almost $700,000. It’s going from San Diego to San Francisco……. To extremely densely populated cities. That’s Over double the national average for a home. Now the spaces in between big cities in the prairie are extremely cheap.

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Mundane-Ad-6874 t1_jc2j4nz wrote

Perhaps, however It’s also so darn expensive because they need to build bridges and under/over passes over every road and highway through the city. I bet if there’s a budget breakdown, that’s 80%+ of the budget.

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SatanLifeProTips t1_jc081bd wrote

California needs to take a lesson from China and tell the NIMBY’s to fuck off. Just plough through and make it happen.

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sharksnut t1_jc0jw9w wrote

California's spent that; we just have nothing to show for it

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OfficialGarwood t1_jbyxq39 wrote

And the UK can't even get HS2 to be funded and completed properly.

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Jamberite t1_jc31fj4 wrote

I think the guy that pitched it concluded with words to the effect of "clearly it's bad idea and a terrible waste of money, so we shouldn't go ahead with it".

They went ahead with it.

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CptnBlondBeard t1_jbz6w94 wrote

"Socialist Soviet Commies!!"

"Next thing you know, they'll want to make school free!!!1!1"

"Where's that money coming from!?!! What about our homeless veterans?!?!"

-The average American, if you tried that in the U.S.

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H1ld3gunst t1_jc17924 wrote

While continuing not taking care of the homeless veterans…

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The_Last_Green_leaf t1_jc1fun8 wrote

>-The average American, if you tried that in the U.S.

they did this in the US, and what you said would happen, didn't

−2

marvas t1_jbzefpf wrote

this is the (rail)way

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hotmugglehealer t1_jbz3k7h wrote

Hope the trains are the right dimensions this time.

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schlampekaka t1_jbzrt53 wrote

Shhhhhhhh that was Spain. We don't talk about that...

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Malinut t1_jbyx5p6 wrote

Funded in part by the profits from French owned UK rail companies.
https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/70-of-uk-rail-routes-now-owned-by-foreign-states/
Which is why so much in the UK is a busted flush.

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criminal_cabbage t1_jbz0gdr wrote

An article 6 years out of date?

At least 4 of the listed operators in that article have changed ownership

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Mr_Happy_80 t1_jbzymce wrote

Yeah it is well out of date as everyone remembers that nationalisation spree the government went on with the railways after Jeremy Corbyn won the election.

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criminal_cabbage t1_jbzzc7w wrote

LNER

Caledonian Sleeper

ScotRail

Southeastern

Northern

Welsh and Borders, now TFW

All nationalised since that article was produced. That's 6 operators out of 28 or 21%

I think 21% is enough to say that the article is now factually inaccurate.

Best not to talk bollocks about something you don't understand.

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Jamberite t1_jc31w7w wrote

21% of companies, but not 21% of rail. Caledonian sleeper is what, two trains?

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criminal_cabbage t1_jc3ck93 wrote

ScotRail serve all of Scotland and Northern are one of the Largest operators in the country.

I don't really know why the distance they cover or the amount of services is being questioned. It's not even a metric the RMT use and they're vehemently opposed to privatisation.

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you_bastid t1_jc16n26 wrote

Cool cool cool I was just in France and the rails were running perfect and smooth and they’re investing $100b to make it even better, meanwhile the US rail system is mainly for freight and can’t even successfully get that from point A to point B.

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shit_knife t1_jbzi9y8 wrote

America? America? Are you listening?

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bluethiefzero t1_jbzs42i wrote

The US has pledged to send an opened box of bandaids to repair their railways.

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supagirl277 t1_jc15lhr wrote

Can they invest in ours too?

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ISUTri t1_jc1glh9 wrote

And so they can keep striking on holidays so they can have the day off.

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alternatingflan t1_jc37ndy wrote

Europe’s rail system is what impressed me most when I visited with a Eurail Pass and could travel anywhere with ease. The US got screwed by big corporate oil and the car/truck manufacturers in post WW2 when the country’s leaders were bribed into abandoning rail travel.

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postumus77 t1_jbzgdme wrote

This is to be built using coerced labor of those aged 62-64 who can no longer retire at the long standing age of 62.

/s

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Sometimes_Stutters t1_jc3nwm6 wrote

That’s nice. The US is doing something similar except we’re spending $500b, and instead of building infrastructure we’re supporting a proxy war in Europe, and bailing-out banks who took your money to the casino

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eliot3451 t1_jc4498h wrote

Wish they did a simular investment in Greece after the Tempi accident.

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