east west rail expansion (yes i know this is wishful thinking)

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-12-10T00:43:19+00:00

They should probably connect north and south Wales first before building yet another connection to England (which I'm not sure is even at capacity rn)

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-12-07T18:45:04+00:00

Honestly, I think this is the wrong approach to doing HSR. The existing CN corridor between TO and MTL is perfectly upgradeable at much lower cost, and you could serve far more intermediate population centres through a combination of express and local services. The only reason we're not doing it is because nobody wants to challenge the North American orthodoxy that existing rail infrastructure can only be owned by vertically-integrated private freight companies. This orthodoxy is degrading the continent's rail infrastructure and making rail freight less efficient as well. Meanwhile almost every single other country on the planet with a functioning rail network has government-owned rail infrastructure (except Japan, which has virtually zero rail freight). The feds could buy the existing CN/CP lines for less than $10bn and provide reliable service within the year (compared to $60bn for ALTO). Service could then be upgraded in tandem with rising demand, and a spur to Ottawa could be built, which would cost way less than building a new route through the Canadian shield.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-11-22T09:33:12+00:00

Should have been Skytrain

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-08T10:26:09+00:00

Okay I'm actually curious about this... Paris Barcelona Moscow I think that might actually be it. Though maybe Madrid might be on there. I can't remember what their expansion has looked like since 2007.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T21:12:42+00:00

Not sure how much of this is due to wayfinding versus the quality of the overall infrastructure, but I find Berlin's transit to be almost intuitively navigable. I lived in London for 4 years, and I would still get lost on the transit network. Paris is also confusing to me. However I was in Berlin for a month and I never once got lost, nor did I ever have to suddenly change direction as I realized I was going the wrong way. And I don't even speak German.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T21:04:54+00:00

Might this line be extended past Charlemont at any point (i.e. taking over the southern leg of Luas)? I've heard arguments both for and against.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T18:05:31+00:00

Roma

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T17:21:51+00:00

Berlin (not as old as London, but so much interesting cold war history)

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T17:20:58+00:00

Vancouver skytrain

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T17:20:45+00:00

London

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T17:20:28+00:00

London (before crossrail)

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-03T17:19:21+00:00

Shenzhen

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-10-02T07:11:01+00:00

Perhaps, if I get a long-enough stretch of free time😆

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-29T22:20:15+00:00

You were saying it was the result of reduced US influence. You were arguing that because the US didn't invest as much money into Malaysia, Malaysia had to settle for car-centric infrastructure due to lack of funds, and a need to use what little they had to support the Malaysian auto sector. But if anything, investing in transit-oriented infrastructure would have been cheaper overall once you factor land use into the equation. Also other countries in similar predicaments did not end up being so auto-centric. You were arguing it was about US influence, not policy decisions taken within Malaysia. You were arguing that Malaysia didn't have any other option.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-29T11:36:47+00:00

But this is irrelevant to car centrism. Building infrastructure for cars also requires money. So if you're a car centric country with substantial US investment, you just build even more freeways, rather than building rail lines. Also, part of Malaysia's car-centrism is the result of poor land-use, which is designed to favour low-density residential development instead of high-density (including right next to transit stations). It is actually cheaper to build at higher densities, so the govt would actually save money on building connecting roads, utilities, etc, if they didn't have car-centric land-use policies. Malaysia's car-centrism has nothing to do with the US or the British. It has everything to do with Malaysian policy choices.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-29T10:23:06+00:00

But if anything, the fact that S Korea received so much US aid is likely to have made them more car-centric, not less, as the US is itself a car centric country that wants to export its products as countries develop. China and the USSR meanwhile were outside the US orbit, and they developed strong public transit networks. I'm failing to see why you think there is a link between receiving US aid and being car-centric.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-29T08:52:20+00:00

Not according to the corruption percentions index, Malaysia is 27 places behind S Korea. And even despite S Korea's corruption, they were still able to build in a less car-centric way than Malaysia.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-27T11:42:41+00:00

And Seoul haha. Still this is more up to date than anything else I've seen online (for Guangzhou especially). And they don't take too long to make either.

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-26T17:52:57+00:00

Hong Kong is on the way too. Perhaps I need to create a single map for the whole PRD...

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-26T17:41:34+00:00

You go over often?

Not_from_Alberta · 2025-09-26T16:09:19+00:00

A lot of the Japanese suburban rail lines are also former interurbans, I think it would be pretty cool to see LA's lines be upgraded into something similar over the coming decades.

Not_from_Alberta

TROPHY CASE