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Well, Morocco can hardly be called a democracy [1]. It's easier to (literally) bulldoze through obstacles when you're a kingdom looking for a fancy toy for the

• inglor_cz 2y ago
  Still, plenty of democracies managed what California couldn't, and built a useful HSR network. Which in Cali would mean SF to LA, and that is probably not going to happen.
  • mschuster91 2y ago
    Many of these projects were started in times where the needs of the infrastructure had priority over local objections and environmental protection laws were not much of a thing though. There's a reason most of Europe's rail network is decades, sometimes centuries old, and there hasn't been much new construction for a loooong time.
    • inglor_cz 2y ago
      "There's a reason most of Europe's rail network is decades, sometimes centuries old, and there hasn't been much new construction for a loooong time." I beg to differ. There is quite a lot of HSR construction in Europe going on right now. Italy: Brescia-Verona, Verona-Vicenza, Vicenza-Padua, the Brenner Basis Tunnel to Austria, Turin-Lyon, Naples-Bari, Palermo-Catania-Messina France: Bordeaux-Toulouse, Lyon-Turin to Italy Spain: Murcia-Almería, the Basque Y, Burgos–Vitoria-Gasteiz, Madrid-Extremadura Austria: Koralmbahn, Semmering Basis Tunnel Germany-Denmark: Fehmarn Tunnel UK: London-Birmingham The Baltic States: Rail Baltica All in active construction right now. Some with delays, as usual.