[littlestymaar]

> In Germany the next sizable town is usually minutes away.

Maybe in Germany, but France has barely populated areas and yet we have one the biggest high-speed rail network on the planet. In fact, the fact that France is the biggest European country after Russia is probably the main reason high speed rails was invested on back in the 70s: the bigger your country the more you need high speed rail.

[kingofpandora]

Second biggest ... if you include overseas territories!

[littlestymaar]

Right, Ukraine pre-invasion was bigger than France without French Guyana, but now they have a tough fight ahead if they want to claim that title again :/