JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: NOTE ON NEW RUSSIAN HIGH-SPEED TRAINS - PUTIN'S REMARKABLE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN HIS COUNTRY - NOTE ON AMERICA'S LONG-DISTANCE RAIL VERSUS HIGHWAY

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE AND VIDEO IN RUSSIA INSIDER

Russia's Amazing Hi-Speed Rail Boom - Trains Made in Russia, Huge Growth

http://russia-insider.com/en/russias-amazing-hi-speed-rail-boom-trains-made-russia-huge-growth/ri21973

That bit of video of President Putin reviewing the train is just terrific.

Nice to see the advanced state of the latest Russian trains.

And President Putin's interest in all kinds of developments in Russia is one of the best measures of his quality as a leader. Quite remarkable.

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Response to a comment saying of another comment “It is not true that America never had to build railroads because they had cars and airplanes”:

You overlook some important facts.

America's interstate highway system, built starting back in Eisenhower's day as in large part a strategic military project for moving the military around the country, supports effectively vast movements of goods by truck.

Because the highways are subsidized by government, over the years they have created artificial competition for railroads which, when they were all private, had to pay for their own roadbeds and everything else.

The structure of long-distance transport we see in America today reflects all kinds of economic distortions.

Trucks on long distance are less efficient and more polluting.

And, had rail been able to compete on fair terms all that time, undoubtedly today, American rail would have advanced further along than it has.