this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

China sees investment in mass transit as a loss leader. It costs more to put in than it generates in fairs, but the boost to connected economic zones pays back the cost several times over.

The US sees investment in mass transit as a detriment to the airline, automotive, and fossil fuel industries. It would shrink the economy in three places where the nation has tried to goose growth for the last 60 years.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

I never really understand why historically trains were so rare in the US. They had loads of trains at one point left over from the industrial Revolution and then they seemed to decide to get rid of them all. Even Beaching didn't shut down that many lines

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Rail lines were converted to highways. They weren't simply removed and abandoned, they were cannibalized to clear space for more lanes

[–] nsfw_alt_2023@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 15 hours ago

We still have them all, we just prioritize moving cargo on them.

[–] pdqcp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 7 hours ago

Oil and auto industry were literally buying tram tracks to dismantle them and make the roads only for cars. For the curious:

How The Auto Industry Carjacked The American Dream
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo

[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

For real. If those idiot neighbours would stop fucking around, we get trains from Wuhan to Bordeaux in about a week. It's a real game changer.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

What if we told them they could keep killing each other, just on the train, and then we'd make a murder mystery about it?