That fantasy looks like the Western government offering tax cuts and incentives for a private company to set up shop in a rural town, hiring a bunch of employees for as little money as possible, cutting corners in safety and quality to boost their revenue from the investment, and ultimately delivering a shit product by comparison. Then, when the public finds out, the company will “downsize” by laying off most of the employees they hired, stranding those that are laid off in a rural town they can no longer afford to move away from while protecting the company’s profits.

The CEO gets a bonus for record profits, a couple hundred people’s lives are ruined, a small town has to deal with the fallout of high unemployment and the socioeconomic issues that come with that, and the Western government is at a loss of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds. Lawmakers get their kickbacks from the company in the form of political donations and lobbying vacation trips.

I’m sorry, my internet friend, but I have little hope for that fantasy without significant change to the system at large.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha. USA tried. It failed so hilariously bad that they’re now actively protesting against new rail. There’s this crazy thing, rail needs to be near places people actually want to go. But those places have NIMBY voters, so populated areas won’t get rail. Instead they go to empty parking garages near malls. And then shocker, no one rides. It’s so bad in Denver that they’re using them as a case study to prevent expansion in Utah.

https://www.denverpost.com/2024/12/08/uinta-basin-railway-case-supreme-court-arguments-colorado-river/

Everyone wins in this scenario