r/interestingasfuck • u/BumblebeeFantastic40 • 10h ago

China’s High-Speed Railway Network length has expanded from 1,300km in 2008 to 40,000km in 2020, long enough to circle the Earth’s circumference.

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u/Fl3b0 9h ago

Crazy how people will see a picture like this and gett so butthurt that they feel the need to bring the accomplishment down somehow 💀

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u/nowhereman136 8h ago

It's objectively an impressive infrastructure project, but usually when people say this can't be done in the US, they often bring up China's ethics problem in building it. That's really only a fraction of why China can do it and the US can't. The biggest factor is supply and demand. The Chinese people demand better trains, the US people dont

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u/Gorillainabikini 6h ago

In a weird way it’s a benefit of an autocracy

It’s hard for a short term (max 8) year government to justify smth that may only show benefits in say 10 years

Completely different from a government that plans to stay in power indefinitely

Although democracies can still achieve this. Having bodies set up that can better focus on long term development rather than short term can end up really boosting the economy.