China’s embassy in Washington, D.C., has shared an image contrasting the country’s rail infrastructure with that of the United States in a pointed jab at Beijing’s rival amid simmering trade tensions.
China’s embassy in Washington, D.C., has shared an image contrasting the country’s rail infrastructure with that of the United States in a pointed jab at Beijing’s rival amid simmering trade tensions.
Deservedly so
Our rail system is shit
I think most of the world probably has a better rail system than the US
We are forced to use cars or aircraft
Hey hey, we have shit rail infrastructure also.
Wait seriously? I guess yeah I’ve never seen rail when I’ve been in NZ, does the land not really accommodate or something?
So many reasons.
But smallish population and a big distance between major population centers means rail is expensive. Relative to population size.
But also the government (for the last 40 years) hasn’t prioritized investment in rail. It is always roads, always.
This is also true for roads. Prioritizing roads is ideologically motivated.
would airports be better? they have better max distance per cost figures, but are more expensive per passenger.
Flying doesn’t need as much infrastructure so that’s definitely a factor. I couldn’t find the cost per passenger kilometer to compare so I can only say that flying emits much more co2 than every other form of transportation. Since climate change is going to cost us a lot I’d say the cost of flying exceeds the costs of car resp. train infrastructure.