I had to go to Bruxelles for a business meeting today. I took the Thalys which is a fast train (300km/h) which means it took me 1h20 mins not even enough time to watch a film. I must say I'm a big fan of the train. It's fast, it goes from city to city, it doesn't leave you stranded miles from the centre, it doesn't pollute, its comfortable, quiet, safe, nobody has to drive, you see the countryside going past and you can get up and stretch your legs from time to time. I understand that for very long distances (over 2,000km) planes make more sense and that for short distances (less than 100km) cars are more convenient. But if we were being rational we would stop building motorways (actually I would suggest closing them down) and increase our investment in trains and shared cars. If it was up to me I would only use trains for medium to long distances with a rental car/scooter/bike (preferably electric) at both ends. This system would save 90 billion car kms per year in France alone.
Maybe we should give people a choice: you can take hot showers or you can use motorways, but you can't do both!
Maybe we should give people a choice: you can take hot showers or you can use motorways, but you can't do both!
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