charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:15 pm
Re: startup costs estimated at $1.043 billion: why does it seem to be so much more expensive to start a train in this country than it does anywhere else in the world? And we know that even if people want it, it won't be done in twenty years. Meanwhile the Chinese are building high speed rail as though the devil himself were after them. Magadan in eastern Siberia will probably have service before Bozeman does.
High costs in the US compared to other First World countries is a valid point. It costs many times more to build a transit system the US than even in, say, France or Germany. I saw a recent study about the issue and the study pointed to inefficiencies in the project management and construction sectors in the US, compared to systems in other countries.
China, though, is not a free country, as other posters have already pointed out, so I'd think that comparing the US to maybe Canada, Australia and Western Europe is a more valid basis of comparison.
In this case, I'd also think that freight railroads are lumping together all infrastructure improvements that they think are necessary for this and are throwing a large number around. Perhaps it will scare off people who want this train and thus kill any hopes of the project.
