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Once upon a time I was traveling between Hong Kong and Shanghai on a sleeper train and had a conversation with a Chinese traveler about their trains, he thought
by dageshi 13y ago
Once upon a time I was traveling between Hong Kong and Shanghai on a sleeper train and had a conversation with a Chinese traveler about their trains, he thought the reason for the great train roll out (this was about 5 years ago) was that it was both feasible and affordable to do it at this point in history because in the future it would become increasingly much more expensive and difficult (in terms of land owner/user opposition) to lay the track.
In the USA you're already in that future, the Chinese aren't there yet and they're taking advantage of it while they can.
- pcurve 13y agoIn 1970s when South Korea was still relatively poor, its government undertook national transportation infrastructure project connecting key cities. For years, there were hardly any cars on these new highways, and they became butt of people's joke. Considering SK's GDP was $300-$400/year back then, it was an understandable reaction. But after 10-15 years, no one was laughing.
- bane 13y agoI'd probably also bring up that building up a car culture in SK caused a domestic demand for product, which the government could then foster with protectionist tariffs. It took a while, but as a consequence, these days nobody laughs at seeing a Hyundai or a Kia on the road. And the entire SK economy got a huge technological boost as well as countless "feeder" industries that provide products to the car companies. But of course, SK also managed to cram in world class subway development, world class bullet train and two world class long haul passenger airlines into the economic development model as well. It's almost Elon Musk audacious.