Oi Rishi! How did impoverished Turkey build 628 miles of high speed rail before you could build less than half of that and plan 6 200 miles by the end of this year?

High-speed train at the terminal in Eskişehir

The Daily Mail’s unconvincing Scottish edition has been making much of how quickly a Turkish shipyard can build ferries while making little of the deaths in their yards, the massive subsidies and considering how reliable they will be longer-term. We can already see that the cheap Pentland Ferries boats, built in Vietnam, are breaking down only a few years after coming in to service.

TuS regular Bob Lamont has perceptively noted:

Well they would hardly go with “Oi Rishi! How did Turkey manage to build and begin operating 628 miles of double track high speed rail in less time than it took the UK to part build 140 miles then cancel it ? Turkish HS rail project on time … and on budget”

By 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure expects Turkey’s high-speed rail system to increase to 10,000 kilometres (6,214 mi): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Turkey

GDP UK is $3.83 trillion.

GDP Turkey $819 billion, a quarter of the UK but maybe taxing the rich and corporations more?

2 thoughts on “Oi Rishi! How did impoverished Turkey build 628 miles of high speed rail before you could build less than half of that and plan 6 200 miles by the end of this year?”

  1. It is said that when HS2 consulted the engineering head of the equivalent in France, he expressed astonishment at the lengths the UK went to in order to consult on amongst other things ecological matters. He said “you know in France when we drain the swamp we dont consult the frogs”.
    On the other hand, if we really do value ecology then we should probably consult the frogs in good time. But who does this advantage? It might advantage the frogs, who secure a better deal (in some cases frogs and other species have been literally moved somewhere they would be safe) but in other cases not (“too bad”) But one group who always win are the lawyers, who get paid win, lose or draw.
    In short while the UK can make this great show of protecting the disadvantaged, the main recipients are always the lawyers!
    Cynical?Moi?

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    1. There’s an awful lot of twaddle talked about EIAs in the UK, in practice it is rare to encounter an issue, and not a huge problem to resolve when it does.
      The species issues which tend to plague UK projects are the lesser spotted landowner, great crested bureaucrat, and giant dithering political warbler…

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