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I think population density is a factor. China and the US have the same area, but China has 4x the population. Consider also England and Japan, densely populat
by cactusface 11y ago
I think population density is a factor. China and the US have the same area, but China has 4x the population. Consider also England and Japan, densely populated islands with great train service.
- chrischen 11y agoYea also China's population is way more packed onto one side of the country than the US is.
- vetinari 11y agoThis is about the first time that I see "UK" and "great train service" together in one sentence ;)
- digi_owl 11y agoRelative to USA it may be great, but i wonder about relative to Japan.
- cactusface 11y agoJapan > England >> USA. Just being able to take the TGV from London to Paris is mindblowing. I define great as it being generally possible to get where I want to go on the train (this is the most important factor) and then as a bonus it's usually competitive with driving, busing, flying, cycling, or walking in terms of comfort, cost, and convenience.
- digi_owl 11y agoAnd therein lies the rub perhaps. When people praise train travel it is largely long distance. When people complain it is likely to be commuter lines in and around cities. BTW, TGV is French...
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lorenzfx 11y agoWe might have had different experiences travelling by train in England.
- hannob 11y agoChina is heavily trying to also connect its less populated areas to proper train services. They just built a new highspeed train to the Xinjiang region which is a very sparsely populated area in the north east of China.
- ionised 11y agoThe UK rail service is dire and has been for many years since privatisastion.
- dagw 11y agoIt may be much worse than it's been, but it still mostly works and it's still much better than what's in the US.