Opinion: An affordable and efficient rail network is the sign of an advanced nation
Skift Take
A well-run, affordable rail system is a sign of a highly organized society that focuses on the growth of a nation as a whole instead of the random success of a few.
A developed, affordable railway network is one of the best adverts for any tourist destination. The Americas and the UK should take note.
My pre-Christmas getaway always has the same incredulous prologue: staring at the booking engine of thetrainline.com, wondering why the ticket from London to Glasgow costs so much and why – allowing time for two train changes – my weekend journey will be only 15 minutes shy of the average six-and-a-half-hour flight from Heathrow to JFK.
I see a developed first-world railway system as a badge of civilisation. The Japanese do it with such aplomb – but then they invented the electronic paperless toilet, which I view as an even greater badge of civilisation. Continental Europe has it largely sewn up: you can spend weeks riding up and down the boot of Italy, through the fairyland of the Alps and around the chateaus of France. Even rough a
