China’s Most Expensive Rail Line

Considering the controversy over high speed rail in the US, it is significant that China’s most expensive rail line has just become operational.
The line crosses 234 miles from Yichang City, Hubei, to Chongqing’s Wanzhou district. It took 50,000 workers to drill the 159 tunnels and build the 253 bridges necessary for the line to traverse a stretch of mountains, and the overall cost came in at a staggering $3.41 billion.
The benefits of this line include a shorter trip between Yichang and Chongqing—from 22 hours to a mere 5 hours—and the increased opportunities that a shorter trip will provide to residents along the line.
Is it worth the price? Only time will tell. Considering China’s efforts to upgrade from standard to high speed rail, who knows how much higher the final cost of this line will be?