What are the rough costs of
- constructing, and
- maintaining
a kilometer of a 1+1 road and single track rail? Is rail at all competitive in this regard?
^(I realise it also depends on the type of cargo – I’m curious about rail transporting everything as was the case in the 1800s)
At least in America the problem is we gave our rail system to freight companies. Which is why the few passenger trains may have to pull over and wait for hours for a 5mph freight to pass instead of freight waiting for a much smaller, much faster passenger train.
But instead of maintaining the rail lines, the freight companies wait for a crash that insurance pays for them the government to repair it
So “cheaper” is a very deep question