On Wednesday March 9, U.S. PIRG is going to release a new video, “Mad Fast Trains”, on the comedy website Funny or Die. The organization has teamed up with the actor who plays Pete Campbell on the popular, and in my opinion excellent, AMC tv show Mad Men. The aim is to promote high speed rail in the U.S. The embedded video is a teaser for “Mad Fast Trains”.
This has come about because Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Mad Men’s Pete Campbell, is a big supporter of public transport and high-speed rail in particular. Kartheiser and fellow Mad Men actor Rich Sommer are both involved in the video.
As well as playing the despicable Pete Campbell, in real life Kartheiser is known for not owning a car, even though he lives in Los Angeles – no mean feat, I’m sure. Apparently, the famous actor has not owned a car for three years. He takes buses and uses the time to do crossword puzzles, to go over his lines for the show, and generally interact with people rather than being cocooned in a car.
This video comes not long after President Obama called for 80 percent of Americans to have access to high speed rail by 2035, during his recent State of the Union Address. The Obama Administration followed that up with an
announcement of a $53 billion plan to build new high speed railways, and to make existing rail networks faster.
Via Grist
UPDATE: The full video has been realeased. Here it is:
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