California’s High Speed Rail Should Look Like Germany’s
Stations Can Be Vital Public Spaces That Provide Space for People to Gather, Shop, and Be Entertained
Will California’s high-speed rail system be German enough?
That question is not a joke, as I learned last month while riding Germany’s popular high-speed rail. In fact, it’s a more important question than the ones Californians have been myopically asking for years about the costs, funding, and construction deadlines of the state’s controversial project.
The value of high-speed rail does not lie in the cost or speed of trains, but rather in the ability of such projects to anchor deep connections—between transportation hubs, between cultural attractions, between cities, between job sites. And …
