Andylusion
Platinum Member
- Jan 23, 2014
- 21,320
- 6,434
BBC News - French red faces over trains that are 'too wide'
If you build it, they will blow it.
How many supporters of the Light Rail System, have been on this forum, talking about how it would save money? The false arguments are endless.
Today again, we see yet another example of why government enterprise is a loss for the public.
The French government owned company SNCF, which operates all the light rail services in France, ordered 2,000 new trains (counting individual compartments, not just engines), that were two wide, and can not fit into hundreds of the older platforms.
The cost of the new trains that can't be used, was $20.5 Billion.
Repair work has already started on the 1000+ stations that need widened to accommodate the new trains. Thus far, over $110 Million have been spent, and the work has just started.
Now the typical leftist response is (in effect) "Screw the tax payer! This is good for the country! It's a 'social' benefit!"
The free-market capitalist response is, all businesses make mistakes. The difference is, when a capitalist business makes a mistake, they pay for it. When a socialized business makes a mistake, the public pays for it.
I'm even cynical enough to believe the company may have known about the size width error, and allowed it to go through, knowing that the public was going to pay for the mistake, so why not get some new train platforms too?
If you knew that someone else would pay for you to have a bigger garage, why not buy a car too big to fit? Go get yourself a Hummer, and "oh I just didn't realize the garage couldn't fit it. You neighbors have to chip in and build a bigger garage. It's for the public benefit"
If you build it, they will blow it.
How many supporters of the Light Rail System, have been on this forum, talking about how it would save money? The false arguments are endless.
Today again, we see yet another example of why government enterprise is a loss for the public.
The French government owned company SNCF, which operates all the light rail services in France, ordered 2,000 new trains (counting individual compartments, not just engines), that were two wide, and can not fit into hundreds of the older platforms.
The cost of the new trains that can't be used, was $20.5 Billion.
Repair work has already started on the 1000+ stations that need widened to accommodate the new trains. Thus far, over $110 Million have been spent, and the work has just started.
Now the typical leftist response is (in effect) "Screw the tax payer! This is good for the country! It's a 'social' benefit!"
The free-market capitalist response is, all businesses make mistakes. The difference is, when a capitalist business makes a mistake, they pay for it. When a socialized business makes a mistake, the public pays for it.
I'm even cynical enough to believe the company may have known about the size width error, and allowed it to go through, knowing that the public was going to pay for the mistake, so why not get some new train platforms too?
If you knew that someone else would pay for you to have a bigger garage, why not buy a car too big to fit? Go get yourself a Hummer, and "oh I just didn't realize the garage couldn't fit it. You neighbors have to chip in and build a bigger garage. It's for the public benefit"
