For years and years people have been saying that railways are dead. “We can do without railways,” people say--as if motorcars and planes have made those railways unnecessary. We all keep hearing that trains are slow, lose money and are dying. But this is far from the truth. In these days of expensive oil, railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes. If you want to carry people or goods from place to place, they're cheaper than planes. And they have much in common with planes. A plane goes in a straight line and so does a railway. What's more, a railway takes you from the city centre into another centre. It doesn't hold you up as a car does in endless traffic jams. And a single train can carry goods which no plane or motorcar could ever do.
Far from being dead railways are very much alive. Modern railway lines give you a smooth, untroubled journey. Where else can you eat well, sleep in comfort, feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are travelling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning, for we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, which are travelling at 250 miles an hour or more. So we will be wondering why we spend so much on motorcars we can't use and planes we can't fly in. After all, we have not enough money to buy the oil.
