Dave Arquati wrote:
http://manila.djh.dk/Ukraine/stories/storyReader$5
(Average *monthly* earnings of US$100 for Ukrainians, 2000)

Well for a start that report is over 6 years out of date and secondly
while that might possibly be true averaged as a whole over the country
there is a lot of money floating about in Kiev , and I'm not just talking
about the Mafia. Besides which , if everything cost 1/45th of that in
Britain then your argument may hold water , but lots of things , eg mobile
phones , radios, white goods, some foods, cost the same or more than they
do in britain.

The Kiev metro is nowhere near as extensive as the London Underground -
it has 59km of route and 45 stations (compared to 408km and 275
stations). Zone 1 would be comparable; a Zones 1&2 monthly travelcard
costs £85.30. Make of that what you will.

Yeah , this argument is frequently trotted out as if size has any bearing on
the running of a system. You might as well say that HSBC can't be expected
to be run as well as Northern Rock because its so much bigger. If you
have the staff & resources in place , clued up management and workers who
treat their jobs as a priviledge , not a right , then it would all work
smoothly. You don't, so it doesn't.

And if you don't think thats a valid point, go check out the Moscow Metro.
Its the busiest in the world and it runs just as well as the one in Kiev.

B2003