[xvf22]

I mean, they built the world's largest high speed rail network pretty damn quickly.

[cdstyh]

That had always been the advantage of communism and dictatorships. When something needs to be done, you can just force people to do it.

[DashAnimal]

Who was forced to work on the high speed rail? Do you have a source?

[neartheplain]

Maybe GP meant forced in the sense of giving right-of-way, which is arguably the biggest impediment to long distance rail construction. As of this January, California's High Speed Rail project still did not have all necessary right-of-ways [0].

[0] https://www.city-journal.org/high-costs-construction-delays-...