Eurostar is this week’s most-hated transit provider, leaving 100,000 passengers stranded in London, Paris, or somewhere in between because “fluffy snow” mucked up the high-speed trains that carry people in the undersea tunnel between Britain and France.
Short-term: fun to make fun of the Brits and the French. Long-term: the joke is on us.
The chaos engendered by Eurostar’s temporarily failure underscores how extensively Europeans have come to depend on a critical piece of infrastructure that didn’t even exist two decades ago.
Europe built something that has strengthened the Paris and London economies by tying two dense cities more closely together. Britain benefits because it can attract France’s best talent, as French citizens know that they’re only a short, cheap, efficient train ride away from their families (this week notwithstanding). France benefits, too: it’s started to reform its economy under competitive pressure from Britain.
And quality-of-life wise, Eurostar has helped London compete against New York, too, for financial-industry talent. They could eliminate that advantage with taxes, of course, but so could we.
You may also like
New York’s pricey hospitals draw pushback from labor
A City Council hearing in Manhattan on Thursday promises a rare scene in New York politics: hospitals playing defense. The council is debating whether to establish a watchdog agency focused on the high price of hospital care in New York, with a goal of helping the city and other employers contain the rapidly rising cost of health benefits for workers. Read More
On College Readiness, Comptroller Asks Wrong Question, Delivers Flawed Answer
Graduation rates are rising while standards for graduation are falling. It begs the question: What number of graduating students are college ready? Read More
A Look at Covid Learning Loss in NYC
New York City set an example worthy of approbation and emulation by publishing their grade 3-8 test results in math and English language arts. Read More
Judge, Jury and … CFO?
A state court judge at a hearing this morning will consider whether to interfere with New York City authority over its own budget by ordering a preliminary injunction that ices a portion of Gotham’s recently enacted FY 23 city budget. Read More
NY’s jobs recovery now strongest downstate
The Empire State's private-sector employment gains over the past year have been increasingly concentrated in New York City. Read More
In Albany This Week, First Do No Harm
It's last call in Albany.
T Read More
NYC’s out-migration fueled NY state’s record population drop in 2020-21
A huge outflow of residents from New York City accounted for nearly all of New York State's record single-year population loss following the Covid-19 outbreak Read More
As a Supreme Court Ruling Loomed, Cuomo Bent His Own Rules on COVID ‘Clusters’
In the midst of the constitutional showdown over his pandemic policies, Governor Cuomo made changes to a disputed Brooklyn 'cluster zone' that seemed to contradict his own declared guidelines.
Read More