@fgraver
> together, Canada, USA, Mexico... — ie. North America — are more than twice the the size of China and... bigger than the largest country in the world, Russia
OK, but Russia also seems to offer better rail services than North America;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Russia
... as does India;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_India
... although neither is as advanced as China. If you look at rail across China, India and Russia as a whole, that's much bigger than North America.
@fgraver
> Should there be better rail offerings in North America? Of course there should. But the problems posed by sheer size are non-trivial
Granted, but I raised China as an example of how size is not a barrier to a functioning passenger rail system if the political-economic decision-makers prioritise it. I doubt we disagree that people in North America suffer from generations of over-investment in roads and cars, and underinvestment in passenger rail.