People seem confused, but this seems very reasonable to me. Consider flying to some far away location. Would you rather
A) A short flight from your local airport to a nearby hub and then transfer to a long haul flight to the far away location
B) A long flight from your local airport to a far away hub and then transfer to a short flight to get to your final destination.
If something goes wrong, its likely to happen at the transfer point. If something goes wrong, you want to be in a place where you have the most resources available to you. Usually being close to home affords you the most resources/options. Stakes are much lower for commuter train travel, but it still rings true for me.
A) A short flight from your local airport to a nearby hub and then transfer to a long haul flight to the far away location
B) A long flight from your local airport to a far away hub and then transfer to a short flight to get to your final destination.
If something goes wrong, its likely to happen at the transfer point. If something goes wrong, you want to be in a place where you have the most resources available to you. Usually being close to home affords you the most resources/options. Stakes are much lower for commuter train travel, but it still rings true for me.