In message , at 10:19:54 on Tue, 16
Feb 2016, Neil Williams remarked:

Of course, if we had a different political system (France, NL, Germany?) we
might have the optimum urban rail networks, rather than the affordable
versions. OTOH, if we had another different political system (USA?) we might
have ALMOST NO urban rail networks.

While your general point is solid, the latter is patently false. Large
US cities have urban rail networks, most of them quite comprehensive.

Here's a list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ter_rail_syste
ms_by_ridership
--
Roland Perry