Overmod states " Worse still is that the names in the article fairly cry out for rim shots sometimes."
Zhangjiakou on the Fuxing train?
True, but a very non-authoritarian USA developed the first atom bomb, landing on moon, successful jet airliner (as opposed to the Comet), a transcontinental railroad built in partnership with the government and on and on. It's a matter of will, as BaltACD pointed out.
China is also an authoritarian state where the construction ordered up by the powers that be will not be obstructed for any reason.
Exactly! America was built into greatness with a bold, can do attitude as recently as with reaching the moon in less than 10 years. Now we have a "it's too expensive " "yes, but the..." and NIMBYism attitude. We often can't even preserve good architectural gems. It's operating under a siege mentality.
Worse still is that the names in the article fairly cry out for rim shots sometimes.
Very little here that we in the United States have known how to do for decades... the difference is that the Chinese have more money and political will, and perhaps less access to lawyers. If they want to close a legacy railway (with considerable historic interest) and build a full-tilt new line, that's what they do.
And if you want the open and shut on why high-speed rail succeeds there and not here, look at the prices for the trip. Amtrak would charge an order of magnitude more for one-third the peak speed and annoying ride characteristics; I can't imagine what California will involve if they ever get a meaningful part of it done. Damn, I just broke off another piece of tooth grinding in rage.
Now, for true 'most on here won't care' news in high-speed ground transportation, see the linked story on that site involving Elon Musk saying his Las Vegas tunnel will be done in 2020...
Not that most on here care:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/driverless-bullet-train-china/index.html
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.