this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Yeah but China’s authoritarian system is how they went from no high speed rail to the most high speed rail in the world in just 25 years. It took Japan 70 years to get where they are now and many European nations more than a hundred.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 16 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Maybe also having the largest population in the world had something to do with it. They have way more people to do the work. They also have way more money than Japan to do the work.

And that's not even considering how they have a lot more land to work with. Easier to put high speed rail through some farmland than to redevelop several urban blocks to create rail infrastructure.

[–] guy@piefed.social 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Well, the perk of being an authoritarian regime is that you don't really have to put the high speed rail on farmland. Urban blocks are fine too if it's a better path.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Don't know if you read my comment very well. Regardless of the state's authority it's still way easier to develop land that's not densely populated versus that which is.

Japan is significantly more densely populated

[–] guy@piefed.social -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yes of course, but the easiest might not be the best.

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago

You're not making sense. Easier just explains why they built more. China has several large cities separated by large swaths of rural land.

Japan is a significantly smaller island that is densely populated.

Mile to mile it is simply more laborious for Japan to construct rail

[–] burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 4 days ago

Where's that picture of the one house in the middle of a highway because the owner wouldn't sell/move?

[–] HetareKing@piefed.social 4 points 4 days ago

You mean the places that did the actual research and development on how to effectively build (high speed) trains and rail networks took longer to get where they are than the place that could just use already well-established technology? No way!

Don't get me wrong, there can absolutely be political barriers to having a good rail network (as evidenced by the US), but let's not pretend you're comparing apples to apples here.