National Rail System Please!

I can NOT be the only one who thinks Australias reliance on trucks over trains is the STUPIDEST thing ever. I mean, how ridiculous can you get? Yes, there will be times when you do need a truck, but surely anyone with half a brain cells worth of common sense can see that a National Train System would improve this country exponentially.

Oh. Right. Common sense. Yeah.

Here are THE best reasons to get trucks off the roads and their cargo put onto trains.

1. Speed

A train doesn't have to worry about traffic jams. A train doesn't get stuck behind a granny driver in her Honda Jazz (most pathetic "car" ever) doing 20km/h under the speed limit. A train doesn't share a road with cars less than a quarter of its size, meaning it can go faster without worrying about whether or not something the driver can't see is around. Which leads to point number two...

2. Safety

Australia FLOGS its truck drivers. They're under tight deadlines and a lot of stress, which would make anyone driving even the smallest car a very dangerous prospect. Now put them in charge of several tonnes of truck, trailers and cargo. Who else is feeling scared around about now? Now add that a lot of small-car drivers simply do NOT know how to drive around trucks and we have a recipe for disaster, which you read about nearly every day in the newspaper. The only real worry about trains is idiots and train crossings - and even that can be minimised by having less train crossings and more over/underpasses. Plus in the event of a train crash, there's usually less victims, whereas if a truck crashes it usually takes out a few other cars and causes traffic to have to stop, leading to congestion and traffic jams. Everyone loses.

3. Road maintenance

Trucks DESTROY roads, that then have to be used by other cars and smaller vehicles (which, in turn, affects their safety). Just look at the Warrego Highway west of Toowoomba if you need any evidence. Get the trucks off the roads and then other road users can enjoy better-quality roads.

4. Trains are cooler than trucks

They ARE! Plus trains can also be used to transport people! Can you imagine tearing down the countryside on a super-fast train, able to get up and walk around as you please, knowing that you'll get to your destination quickly and safely?

Don't get me wrong, we still need trucks as trains can't go everywhere. With a strong train backbone however, we can cut back the number and size of the trucks on our roads improving the quality of our roads and our trips for everyone.