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‘It’s the same daily misery’: Germany’s terrible trains are no joke for a nation built on efficiency (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 8 months ago by NightOwl@lemm.ee to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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[-] zephyreks@lemmy.ml 57 points 8 months ago

Infrastructure delivers more economic impact with less grifting when it's not designed and run to make a profit on its own.

[-] DickFiasco@lemm.ee 31 points 8 months ago

Right? When did we start becoming concerned with a public service being "profitable"? I've heard this applied to the US Postal Service a lot recently.

[-] theragu40@lemmy.world 18 points 8 months ago

"The postal service is losing money!"

No, the postal service costs money. It's a service. It doesn't aim to make a profit. It costs money, and we are in turn rendered a service that is useful.

I swear people are delusional.

[-] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

Conservatives want to kill the postal service because it competes with for profit services they own and invest in. See: DeJoy

[-] theragu40@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Which of course is stupid, because USPS is actually great and provides a much better and more reliable service than any private competitor even in its current underfunded state.

[-] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 6 points 8 months ago

Yet nobody ever expects the road system to turn a profit. Why should trains be any different?

[-] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 8 months ago

I first remember it becoming an issue when a failed businessman turned president wanted to run the country like one of his failed businesses.

[-] Zitronensaft@feddit.de 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I remember Postal Service profitability being a political issue under the second Bush, too. Trump didn't start that. He probably even benefited from the previous rounds because he bought a historic post office in DC when it was sold off and he turned it into a hotel. That's the same hotel where people stayed during his presidency to curry favor with him.

[-] spookedbyroaches@lemm.ee 1 points 8 months ago

You want to put pressure on these things to make them more cost effecient. You're in a capitalist system which does that job very well. But since this is not really a replaceable company, the government has to own these companies until they go public.