[bitL]

You have the same problem as Russia. Only a tiny part of the country/continent is populated, the population is spread along coasts, and even that not continuously. Building advanced trains is not economical, they won't service sufficient population per km traveled.

[jammygit]

The bad trains in Russia are strategic: it’s so that European conquerors can’t use the rails when the Russians get pushed back, but the Russians are used to it so they manage to function just fine

(wwii logistics joke...)

[djrobstep]

People often say this, but I'm skeptical the raw distances are the problem at all. I think it's simply a lack of vision.

Melbourne-Sydney is not much longer than Barcelona-Madrid, Which is served by a very successful high speed train route.

[overkalix]

Very successful? AVE routes, including the BCN-MAD one, are not financially sustainable. Spanish and European taxpayer money devoted to the comfort of businessmen and bureaucrats and the profits of contractors while metropolitan lines fall apart and receive little to no investment.

[djrobstep]

Most infrastructure like this is not "financially sustainable" in a narrow sense because most of the positive externalities aren't capturable. It's nonetheless a good idea (although we certainly need to figure out how to do these things cheaper and less corruptly).

The environmental benefits alone must be considerable as the route has replaced more than half of the air traffic iirc.

[cylinder]

Spain has govt debt of 100% of GDP too.

Flying between Melbourne and Sydney is incredibly easy and will only get easier when the western Sydney airport opens. There's nothing and nobody between the two cities worth putting stops at.

[the_why_of_y]

How is a government debt that was mainly caused by a residential housing bubble being popped in 2007/2008 relevant here?

Edit: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GGGDTAESA188N

[rorykoehler]

Airlines will try block it at every step