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.
I hate that nations are trying to meme on each other. Communicating as a fucking country used to have at least the veneer of decorum.
Weirdly both sided comment. There’s one nation acting erratically, disrespectful, and without an ounce of decorum. Then, there’s a nation that, instead of cowering in fear as it used to be, responds to clown behavior with humor. Which is probably for the best.
Im Canadian. Dont lecture me on the US being disrespectful.
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.
But smallish population and a big distance between major population centers means rail is expensive. Relative to population size.
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.
What does the body count look like? I’ll bet China dominates there, too.
328.3 (CN) vs 12.5 (US) Bn passenger kilometers by rail
That’s a lot more dead slaves than I could have expected!
