Not so friendly reminder that musk specifically came up with, and pushed, for hyperloop knowing that it would never be made, as an effort to stop the development of highspeed rail in America and shift all political discussions of it because "something better is around the corner":
As I’ve written in my book, Musk admitted to his biographer Ashlee Vance that Hyperloop was all about trying to get legislators to cancel plans for high-speed rail in California—even though he had no plans to build it. Several years ago, Musk said that public transit was “a pain in the ass” where you were surrounded by strangers, including possible serial killers, to justify his opposition.
Also: 2024 update, the total length of China's high-speed rail tracks has now reached well over 45,000 km, or 28,000 miles, by the end of 2023.
They are additionally five years ahead of schedule and expect to double the total number within ten years. And, before someone inevitably complains about "how expensive it is", they are turning over a net-profit of over $600M USD a year.
It totally is.
A lot of French/German people go work in Switzerland, a noticeable amount such that when the DB (german trains) is broken down / delayed / on strike (as it often is), Swiss companies suffer.
It has become such a problem that in order to get these workers to work, Swiss trains will cross the border to collect these commuters as a replacement service.
Since these Swiss trains are following the same tracks as the DB would take, French/German people who just want to get to work in France/Germany also take these Swiss trains to work.
The end result is a DB strike that failed, pissed off commuters realising just howsmooth, quiet, and fancy Swiss trains are in comparison, and a general populace who are irritated at the state of german trains and train scheduling.
That's interesting
Thanks for the context.