"Single train"

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I was in a train a few days ago (the trip took 6,5 hours in total, it was from Helsinki to the city I'm living in at the moment). Most of the time I was sitting in the restaurant car because my car was too crowded. In the restaurant car I noticed that a guy, probably 25 years old, was trying to hit on a girl who was probably at the same age. The girl didn't seem to be interested, maybe she was taken or she thought that the guy was too arrogant (I thought he seemed to be somewhat arrogant) or the situation or the guy was wrong or something. I wouldn't have been interested in him either even if I was straight (but if he had approached me I would have been somewhat flattered).

Anyway, there and then I got an idea (a bit tongue in cheek) about single train, a train for single people. The train would have separate cars for straight people, gay males, lesbians and bisexuals (and maybe for some other groups too) and there you could easily approach interesting single people. Of course it should be known for everyone in the train that it's a single train (and someone may approach you there) and it should be some sort of additional train service so that no-one was "forced" to take that train to go from one place to another. (Well, if someone was "forced" to be there she/he should be able to tell that she/he isn't there to look for company. Maybe there should be a car for "regular" passengers too.)

I don't know if my idea is any good.. now that I'm thinking about it I guess it could lead into some sort of delinquencies in the worst case. But it could also be a nice meeting place for people (at least in Finland train trips can take many hours and getting to know some new people could be nice pastime if you like it) and some people could actually find a partner that way. I don't know whether I myself could get into that kind of train. Maybe. But I don't know if it would be any easier for me (or anyone else) to find interesting and interested company there than anywhere else.

What do you think about my idea?

That sounds really interesting. Maybe just a singles' car at first, see if the idea takes off?

That sounds really interesting. Maybe just a singles' car at first, see if the idea takes off?

It is a really good idea, but as a resident of the U.S., our infrastructure when it comes to public transportation is embarrassingly horrid.

Bad rail infrastructure is one thing. Another factor is US social dynamics that exclude all but the most charming guys from dating. Here's the chain of events, in this specific order, that will send the singles' train to the scrap yard, and its tracks to being torn up and turned into a bike path.

1. Guys in straight cars will start hitting on the girls. Most of them will be overly aggressive NT guys, but a good number will be nice aspie guys with few or no skills needed to meet girls.

2. All girls, straight, bi, and lesbian, will start riding in lesbian cars "to avoid being hit on by creepy guys".

3. Straight cars will quickly degenerate into sausage fests, having a 10:1, if not 100:1, ratio of guys to girls.

4. Straight guys will stop taking the train due to their lack of success with meeting girls.

5. Lesbian cars will become unsuccessful, due to the huge numbers of straight girls riding in them but refusing to date the girls they meet.

6. Lesbian and bi girls will stop taking the train due to their constant encounters with straight girls who won't date them.

7. Gay cars will continue to be successful, although the number of riders will be insufficient to generate enough revenue, since gays make up just 10% of male population. (Straight guys will generally not ride in gay cars, unless driven by extenuating circumstances.)

8. The singles' train operator shuts down the operations, sells off its trains for scrap metal as a last-ditch effort to make a profit, and applies to the Federal Railroad Association (FRA) for abandonment of the tracks. (The FRA requires railroads to keep using and maintaining its rail lines unless otherwise approved.)

9. The singles' train operator files for bankruptcy.

10. Local municipalities tear up the tracks, sell off the wooden ties to landscapers, reuse the steel rails for construction projects, and build a paved bike path where the tracks used to run.

11. Former train stations are torn down, except one or two architecturally unique ones that get repurposed as small businesses.

12. The bike bath becomes a hotspot for attractive, charming NTs to meet each other, leaving aspies out in the cold.

And there we have it. The singles' train: a beautiful idea in principle, that will quickly fail, due to the social dynamics in the US. (And come to think of it, most of the Western world as well.)

Hmmm... you may be right. Probably my idea needs to be further developed. Maybe there should be more cars in the train? Separate cars for straight aspies and straight NTs? How 'bout you couldn't leave the car you're traveling during your trip? Would it become some sort of prison then, at least for some people? There should be some kind of rules for dating in the singles' train.

Or: how 'bout a straight people's train, bisexuals' train, gay men's train and lesbians' train (and they all would be singles' trains)? Then leaving your car wouldn't be that big problem.

I think you could address that by limiting movement on the train. You could give them a ticket for straight, bi or gay and you can't change once on the train.

Confining people to a single train on the whole trip is practically imprisonment, unless they're warned in advance. And even then, what do you do in events of truly bad confrontations? So that idea just won't fly. And having a whole train for straights, bisexuals, and lesbians won't fix the problem either. The chain of events will be the same. Except instead of switching over to a different car, straight girls will now shift over to lesbian trains "to escape the creepy guys". Then the straight trains will still become sausage fests, and everyone except gay men will stop riding the trains due to lack of success. Revenue will plummet. And so on and so on. And in the end, the old railroad will still be turned into a bike bath where attractive, charming NTs to meet each other.

Subways in Mexico City even created separate cars for men and women on many of its subway lines. Reason being is that women were getting sexually harassed in crowded subway cars, and due to crowded conditions and/or inability to see the person touching them, had no recourse.

Long story short, there is no real solution if this will be a regular public transportation railroad. One possibility is to set it up as a charter railroad, used for special events, rather than transportation. Grand Canyon in the US and Copper Canyon in Mexico have these. In your case, do this:
1. Set it up as a special purpose railroad that runs in a closed loop with just one station, rather than like a transit line.
2. Make the tickets somewhat expensive, so only people who are serious about finding dates will bother buying them.
3. Have event hostesses rove around, getting people to talk to each other, and doing organized ice-breaker games.
4. Include food, all activities, and maybe one or two alcoholic drinks into the prices of admission; all-inclusive prices make people feel more relaxed.
5. Allow people who were unable meet anyone to come back next time for a 50% discount.
6. Run some trains as "tourism only", so people can tour the scenery without the dating component.
7. (optional) Turn away people who are too attractive, so they won't intimidate the people who have trouble meeting others.

I had a really good experience on cruises, twice. One time, I actually had something similar to a real vacation fling; the other time, no fling, but I met a group of friends where guys and girls were interacting like in the MTV show Real World (and I was part of the action). They were not singles' cruises, just regular cruises on Carnival. And the environment was very aspie-friendly; I was floored by how comfortable socially I felt. And I both of those cruises by myself. I have not had either of these experiences outside a cruise ship.

So maybe instead of building a rail line, you can charter a cruise ship instead. You don't have to build anything new; the cruise line already built the ship. You don't have to put in transit infrastructure; the ocean was put in for free by planet Earth. You will need to pay usage fees to port authorities, but that's about it. Just put in a requirement that you must be single or divorced to sail on the charter cruise, and maybe turn away people who are too attractive and therefore intimidating to those who truly need the singles' cruise.