In a number of countries, some people think it is necessary to spend large sums of money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains between cities. Others believe the money should be spent on improving existing public transport. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Good public

transport

is a necessity in all countries. A section of the population is of the opinion that heavy investment should be made for the construction of new high speed railway lines between cities while there are other whose preference is to use

this

money on the existing infrastructure for their improvement. In my opinion, while there is value in new high speed lines connecting major cities, it should not come at the cost of existing public

transport

. With the recent developments in technology, we are now able to construct high speed railway lines that can connect major cities and can make the commute between them much faster.

For example

, In China, A person can travel between Shanghai and Beijing in 5 hours in a high speed train while it takes them 20 hours of travel in a regular train.

Such

trains will make it possible for people to commute in an efficient manner and not waste hours travelling. While there are obvious benefits in having high speed lines, they are not cheap. Building a new track requires heavy investment.

For instance

, the proposed high speed line between London and Manchester in the UK will cost taxpayers 200 Billion Pounds.

Moreover

,

such

lines might not make business sense in many cases.

Also

, available money for public

transport

is finite and

such

investments can compromise maintenance and development of existing public

transport

. Continuous improvement of existing public

transport

infrastructure is a major responsibility of all governments.

This

is required due to the yearly growth in demand as well as the normal wear and tear. Investing in the upkeep of

this

will help larger cross section of society than high speed lines that has a less demand.

For example

, a study conducted by the University of Oxford concluded that investing money from the proposed high speed line on existing public

transport

will positively affect 40 percent of the population

instead

of the 3 percent that will benefit from the high speed line. In Conclusion, while there are benefits in having faster trains between cities, it should not come at a cost of existing infrastructure.