Author
Topic: Travels and Impressions
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Mdot21 · « **Reply #826 on:** February 13, 2024, 08:22:14 AM »

Quote from: Cincydawg on February 13, 2024, 08:15:02 AM

Folks often point to the TGV in France (and elsewhere) and ask why we can't do the same thing, and of course "we" could, with heavy government involvement ($$$$$$$). The TGV operates at a significant loss of course, something only governments can "manage" (for a while). And it gets built with government funding, entirely. So they never try and recover the sunk capital, and couldn't. And it's still pricey, about $100 one way Paris to Marseille.

yeah, people always complain about the HSR here and try to compare us to Europe, but all those govt's put serious public funds into the rail, operate at loss, and it just makes more sense for people over there to use the rail because of the cost of driving over there. same make/trim car in US is always going to be less than in EU and of course our gasoline prices are way lower as well.

Cincydawg · « **Reply #827 on:** February 13, 2024, 08:28:12 AM »

Gasoline in France is near $2/liter, which would be $7.60 per gallon. They usually drive smaller diesel cars which would get 60 mpg on the highway, or better, so it's not that different from driving a Camry here at 35 mpg highway at $3 per gallon. The tolls however are a bite.

Paris to Marseille is 482 miles with $70 in tolls. Still, at 60 mpg, it's 8 gallons of Diesel, which is cheaper there than gasoline, so about $60 in fuel.

CatsbyAZ · « **Reply #828 on:** February 18, 2024, 02:06:32 AM »

Working in Italy rest of the month. So much of walking the cities looks like this - narrower streets traveled by smaller cars and crowded on either side by the many, endless apartment towers lived in by the whole of urbanized Europe: