
Switzerland begins tests on the longest train tunnel in the world - bontoJR
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/gotthard-base-tunnel-freight-tests-begin.html
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hanniabu
I wish the US had the transportation culture of Switzerland, in reference to a
nice forward infrastructure.

All we have here are old diesel trains, crappy busses, and corrupt politicians
and companies that tell us we can't have any better. And to add insult to
injury, they keep raising fairs and increasing delays and down time.

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fredley
In order to get shiny new trains and big public infrastructure projects like
this, you need to pay a lot of tax, and this model does not go down well with
the American electorate, generally speaking.

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CHsurfer
Im a dual US and Swiss Citizen. My taxes are lower in Switzerland. Of course I
still have to pay the difference back to the US, but that's not the point.
Switzerland has such a great infrastructure because they have been making
steady, incremental investments over a long time. They accept that a project
can have a very long payback period. Also, they invest to keep their
infrastructure very well maintained, which keeps utility high and makes major
overhauls less frequent, thus extending the duration that they benefit from
their original big investment.

So I think you don't need high taxes, but rather a long term outlook and the
will to execute it, across multiple election cycles. Boston's Big Dig is the
most recent example of such a project from the US that I can think of.

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harryh
US Taxes as a % of GDP: 26.9

Switzerland: 29.4 (or about 9% higher)

I obviously cannot comment on your particular tax situation but it is not
representative of the country as a whole.

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sebgr
The average Swiss citizen will earn more than your average american - overall
swiss citizens will pay a smaller % on taxes than americans.

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harryh
Um, no. 29.4 is > 26.9 no matter what the average earnings are.

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jrock08
Let me try to explain with a very very simple example why the average person
might pay less, even though the average tax might be higher.

Person 1-10 make $10. Person 11 makes $100

Case 1, a flat tax of 30%

Person 1-10 pay $3, person 11 pays $30, for a total tax of $60 on $200 total
income, that is 30%.

Case 2, a progressive tax of 1% on income up to $10, and a tax of 80% above
that.

Person 1-10 pay $1, Person 11 pays 1% on $10 and pays 80% on $90 which is $72,
a total tax of $82 on $200 income, a 41% tax!!!

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miander
This is a really cool tunnel! It's a single tunnel 57km long and the trains
are all-electric. There was a nice comment thread a couple months ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10465597](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10465597)

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herbst
I wonder, what else would the train be other than electric?

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ianpurton
Steam.

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herbst
I am pretty sure you cant do that near any modern city because of the smog. Or
sure you could, but not if you care about a nice city image.

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needusername
[http://www.brienz-rothorn-
bahn.ch/en/experience/railway.html](http://www.brienz-rothorn-
bahn.ch/en/experience/railway.html)

~~~
herbst
This kind of proofs my point. This thing is a mountain train, there are not
cities that could be considered big on the way at all. Its also a nice
experience :)

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lazyant
I imagine such tunnel needs vertical vents every x meters or there would be
funny air compression effects or rarified air issues?

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rsync
They need a lot of airway and exit tunnels - and not just for compression
effects - a tunnel can become a very dangerous place very quickly:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc_Tunnel#The_1999_fir...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc_Tunnel#The_1999_fire)

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mortenjorck
57km (35.4 miles) may sound impressive enough in isolation, but it's not until
you start putting it into real-world context that you realize just how
monumental a tunnel this is: Imagine driving any of these commutes _entirely
underground:_

\- The Chicago Loop to Naperville (31 miles)

\- SF SOMA to Palo Alto (33 miles)

\- Midtown Manhattan to Perth Amboy (32 miles)

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timjahn
Living in Chicago, the Chicago Loop - Naperville comparison hit me....wow!
That's quite an accomplishment.

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s3nnyy
The public transport in Switzerland is really superb, haven't seen anything
like it anywhere else.

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frik
All neighbour countries have very similar public transport.

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saiya-jin
not true at all, I can attest French public transport for example is slow and
basic compared to swiss one (apart from TGV trains, which covers just few main
places). In Switzerland, you don't have to use car because train will get you
there as fast/faster than car in most cases. good luck with that anywhere
around unless you travel between train stations.

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frik
well, then _almost_ all neighbor countries.

France is a special case anyway, as it's road/railway infrastructure is very
focused to connect everything with Paris as the center point.

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Gladdyu
Ah, they seem to have found a new use for the LHC tunnel :)

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maxxxxx
I guess they could use the train tunnel as particle accelerator during
downtimes :-)

