> One question of course is: what does society think we should do with thieves who create road accidents and who render trains inoperable?
replyThey should be liable for consequential damages.
Death.
replyMake me late to the airport will ya?
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replyWe should raise their standard of living so they don't turn to theft
replyEuropean countries generally have a fairly generous social safety net.
reply> It's one of the reason trains get stuck in Europe: thieves stealing copper cables.
replyEven worse. Sometimes, the dumb fucks think something has copper in it, but actually it's fiber... once two copper thieves simultaneously took out the primary and secondary fiber for the GSM-R network, leading to a complete standstill in Northern Germany [1]. (Personally: given the timing, I think it was Russian throwaway agents, and I do not believe that "copper thieves" cover story for a single second)
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM-R-Ausfall_bei_der_Deutsche...
trains arent really useful in the US on purpose
replyTrains in the US are super useful…for freight. Pretty much worthless for passengers in most cases. Canada and Australia are similar.
replyEurope puts people in trains and freight in semi-trailers. China and Japan are more like this.
India dedicates its rail network 100% to passengers and also 100% to freight. Somehow it works.