The Greatest Post-WWII National Railway?

Which nation had/has the world's best rail network post-WWII

  • Japan

    Votes: 7 25.9%
  • USSR

    Votes: 1 3.7%
  • United Kingdom

    Votes: 4 14.8%
  • USA

    Votes: 9 33.3%
  • Germany

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • France

    Votes: 4 14.8%
  • Italy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • China

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Total voters
    27
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According to you, which nation had the world's best transportation rail network after the end of WWII (1945 - Now)?
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Well, immediately afterward, very true for passenger and freight traffic...

Pretty obvious given the destruction of WW2.

Well, immediately afterward, very true for passenger and freight traffic...

Through to the current day, one would expect - based on mileage and traffic - still holds true for the US in terms of freight. In terms of passenger traffic, really depends on how one defines it - speed, comfort, safety, raw number of people moved, per capita levels of service, etc - that could go off in various directions.

Best,
 
These people voting for the US probably never rode a train there.

Honestly depends on which time period. Up until the late 50's the US was quite obviously the king of rails. Hell even today if one takes out the passenger side of the equation its still the best. However today Europe hands down has the best passenger service.
 
Given the destruction caused by WWII, the country that has so far the best rail network until the 1950s were the USA, but with investment focused on new interstate highways, air competition and lack of modernization, is no longer a reference for passengers, especially when in 1964 Japan created the Shinkansen Bullet Train and Europe, mainly Germany and France rebuilt their networks and allowed speeds of 200 km/h by 1970s and the creation of TGV in France by 1981.
 
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