Theme- Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement

It is increasingly asserted that public expenditure should be redirected from

road

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infrastructure towards the expansion of

railway

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systems, largely on the grounds that contemporary

road

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networks have become congested, inefficient, and environmentally detrimental.

While

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such

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claims resonate within sustainability-oriented discourse, they overlook the structural, economic, and behavioural realities that continue to render

road

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-based

mobility

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indispensable in modern societies. At the core of

this

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issue lies the evolving relationship between

mobility

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and autonomy. In an era characterised by decentralised urban development and diversified travel patterns, individuals demonstrate a pronounced preference for

transport

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modes that maximise spatial and temporal flexibility. Rail-based systems, constrained by fixed corridors and rigid timetables, are fundamentally incapable of accommodating the heterogeneous and often spontaneous

mobility

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demands of the population. Even under hypothetically optimal conditions—where extensive

railway

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coverage is assumed—

such

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systems would remain inherently limited in their capacity to facilitate point-to-point travel, thereby restricting their functional relevance. From a fiscal perspective,

this

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limitation is

further

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compounded by the disproportionate capital investment required for

railway

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construction and maintenance, which frequently yields suboptimal utilisation rates and structurally low returns

due to

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the necessity of maintaining affordable fare policies. Environmental considerations, though frequently invoked as a rationale for deprioritising

road

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transport

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, warrant a more nuanced evaluation.

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internal combustion engines have historically contributed to atmospheric degradation, the accelerating diffusion of electric

mobility

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, alongside advancements in energy efficiency and emissions regulation, is progressively decoupling

road

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transport

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from its environmental externalities. As

such

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, the environmental critique of

road

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infrastructure risks becoming anachronistic if technological trajectories are adequately acknowledged. Redirecting investment away from roads at

this

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juncture may

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undermine the scalability of cleaner vehicular technologies rather than facilitate environmental progress. In light of these considerations, it becomes evident that

road

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infrastructure—despite its imperfections—retains a comparative advantage in terms of adaptability, economic rationality, and alignment with contemporary patterns of

mobility

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.

Consequently

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, rather than pursuing a binary reallocation of resources towards

railway

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expansion, governments would be better served by adopting an integrative strategy that modernises

road

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networks

while

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simultaneously accelerating the transition towards sustainable

transport

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innovations.