IS AMERICA'S DECLINE IRREVERSIBLE?

Pixie didnt say America was behind Europe and an emerging Asian country in rail transport she said Asia in general and you asked where in Asia and i said Japan. How is that not part of the conversation?

 

Right. I wasn't referencing emerging anything, I was talking about hi speed trail lines in general, and contrasting that to out crumbling infrastructure. We don't have high speed trail anywhere. But the Chinese & Koreans also have high speed rail. By contrast, this is all we have:

As early as 1993, in USA, regarding the successes of high-speed rail in Europe, and in an attempt to develop trains service upon airlines services, Amtrak began studying a high-speed service in the Northeast Corridor, linking Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC. Some existing trains (Swedish X 2000, German ICE 1, Spanish Talgo) were tested, but finally, a new train was ordered, derived from the TGV and the LRC, and built by Alstom and Bombardier. The new service was named "Acela Express" and unveiled in 1999.
Unlike other high-speed rail, the Acela lacked dedicated lines, and ran on classic lines partially fitted out, with a relatively low maximum speed of 240 km/h, and only on very small sections. For the same reason, the train was able to tilt in curves, to maintain an acceptable speed. The service was inaugurated in December 2000, and was an immediate success. As of 2010, it is one of the few Amtrak lines to operate at a profit.
high speed rail
high speed rail by country

 

Hold on I thought the conversation was about the decline of America due to emerging foreign Latin American and Asian countries. I must be confused my bad

 

It's ok. Besides, China just opened the longest high speed rail line in the world. http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/26/china-opens-worlds-longest-high-speed-rail-route/

 

No the topic was if America's situation was irreversible or not. There is no correlation between the financial strength of emerging nations and the financial struggles in the west. The point being made was America and Western Europe no longer have the sole prerogative when it comes to the billionaire's club. The rise of China doesnt mean the fall of America.

 

I've read that but more importantly who has access to it though?
The problem with the infrastructure problem in China is access to their growing population.
And to your point about the US in comparison to India, the US definitely needs to work on roads and bridges but at least they have roads and bridges. India serves a billion people and still have mostly dirt roads. Its fricking sad.

 

noted