Doesnt even need to be a national network. Just start with the quebec-windsor corridor, where half the country lives.

Hell, just start with montreal to toronto which is like 30% of the country's population

It's amazing what you can accomplish by exploiting Chinese immigrants to do the most dangerous work for $1/day (half of what white Canadians were paid for less dangerous work) (source).

So building a high performance rail network in the 21st century will cost a lot more, but it will still be worth it.

Environmental assessments, negotiations with First Nations, land acquisition/expropriations, not to mention that every little town along any proposed route would be pushing for a stop. Throw in assorted loons and NIMBYS and their legal efforts, and it's a wonder anything ever gets built. The fact that there are more people makes it much more difficult, not easier.

The initial transcontinental railways were very much a partnership between business and government. And a hugely corrupt one at that.

The Trans Mountain pipeline just going from Alberta to BC port is running at $30B currently. Much of that is due to opposition from locals and their legal efforts and protests. It's a hugely easier construction/engineering effort to put in a pipeline than an HSR line. Grades aren't important, a ditch is dug and the line is plopped in then covered. They're deep enough and flexible enough that most heaving won't affect it. Throw in some booster stations and Bob's-your-uncle.

HSR tracks have to be near perfect to ensure stability and there are tight limits on allowable grades/radius etc. Just the route surveys would be a huge challenge.

Or serviced with regional rail instead of bus.

That implies forethought and planning on behalf of governments at all three levels. And moreover, for them to do it together.

Canada - it’s a like the US, but with a public health system and worse cronyism

Immigration means fuck all if we still only build low density single family homes. The only thing that increases density is zoning and building for density.

If you’re worried about cost: car infrastructure is the most expensive per capita. Unlike public transportation, roads are almost entirely government subsidized, with virtually no tolls or pay roads anywhere in the country. The worst part of subsidized highways are the spillover costs: oceans of subsidized parking lots and wide subsidized roads to service all the cars. In most NA cities, 60% of surface area is devoted to cars. What a waste.

That’s not counting the private costs, which people massively underestimate. Cars cost an average of $14k a year. This is why Canadians and Americans spend more on transportation than almost any country in the world.

And what do we get for all that extra cost? A lower quality of life: The longest commute times in the world, amongst the highest traffic deaths in the developed world (which is the biggest killer of children in Canada), a housing crisis due to low density, obesity and cardiovascular disease due to lack of incidental exercise, and high property taxes to maintain all that inefficient asphalt.

Canadians are also amongst the highest per capita carbon emitters, in large part due to tailpipe emissions and car centric urban design.

But good rail reduces the dependance on car infrastructure. Less lanes to maintain, less traffic means less wear of the road. Transit doesn't need to be profitiable itself to still be worthwhile. It can bring value in other ways like increasing land value near stations, reducing car traffic and emissions, providing social, cultural and business connections.

Most highways and roads cost more to maintain than they bring in revenue as well.