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A comment on Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium journeys from Sept to Dec. Parent comment

Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by cmarschner on Friday September 02, 2022 @11:57AM (#32692324)
In the end it only makes sense if you replace trips that are more carbon-heavy - and the evidence that this happened in the 3 months seem pretty weak. If you create additional mobility then everybody loses. People should have an incentive to do fewer car and plane trips - and maybe substitute some of them for train trips since they are the least damaging option.

Which leaves a question of the long-term effect - will people who typically had not considered taking a train for, say, going on vacation will do so next year?

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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by GekkePrutser on Saturday September 03, 2022 @07:17AM (#32700730)
Was this a carbon thing in Germany?

In Spain it seems to be more targeted to compensating people for the higher prices, not for environmental reasons. And as such I question the targeting at such a specific group.

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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by jkukul on Friday September 02, 2022 @12:48PM (#32692933)
> In the end it only makes sense if you replace trips that are more carbon-heavy - and the evidence that this happened in the 3 months seem pretty weak

I don't think this measure is primarily meant to fight carbon emissions. I think the primary goal is to help people who were mostly affected by inflation, i.e. lower and middle class so people who take regular commuter trains.

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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by sandworm101 on Friday September 02, 2022 @12:07PM (#32692444)
By extendion, they need disincentives to make any trips, trains included. The most carbon-neutral trip is the one never made. Tourism, long trips for no better reason than recreation, can never be made completely green.
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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by ClumsyPilot on Friday September 02, 2022 @04:17PM (#32695281)
> The most carbon-neutral trip is the one never made

The most carbon-neutral consumer is 6 feet under. Or, better yet, processed into biogas.

I don't think this is the kind of logic we should be engaging in

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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by Swenrekcah on Friday September 02, 2022 @12:22PM (#32692605)
It can be made close enough by train travel. There are other factors to consider than just carbon emissions, the most carbon reducing action would simply be to wipe out humanity but we probably don’t want that.
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Re:Spain launches free train tickets for short and medium jo... by ben_w on Friday September 02, 2022 @12:20PM (#32692580)
"Never" is a long time.
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