NYC subway repairs: $68 billion. California HSR: $88-128 billion. Brazil-Peru transcontinental railway to haul 50 million tons per year: $70 billion
This is a transcript, for the YouTube video found here:
Bullets:
China and Brazil are building a transcontinental railroad that will connect key South American markets to Peru's new Pacific port.
When completed, the Bioceanic Railway haul 50 million tons of agricultural and mine output from Brazil to Peru, and from there to China and other global consumers. It also opens up vast new markets for China's consumer and industrial brands.
Freight transport via the new rail to Peru will be far more efficient compared to today's, which is by truck to Atlantic Ocean ports, then through the Panama Canal.
For the average shipment, it will save 10 days and 10,000 kilometers. At a projected cost of $70 billion, the new railroad is similar in cost to recent upgrades to the New York City rapid transit system, and the HS2 project in the UK.
Report:
Good morning.
One of the biggest advantages that the BRICS countries have, is that everything just costs less. Products cost less in the supermarket, for households. And big projects cost a lot less to build.
A few examples. The UK is building one of the most expensive railways in the world. It will be a high-speed rail, and will cost between $60 and $70 billion. There is even a lot of skepticism that it’s even necessary. The cost per mile is $416 million, because the lines are going through densely populated areas. But they point out that “China and Japan manage to build high-speed rail through densely populated areas for a lot less” than what they’re spending in Britain. And I would like to point out that densely populated in England is nothing at all what “densely populated” looks like in Asia.
Next. The New York City subway and public transit are being upgraded, which will cost over $68 billion. The State of New York has agreed to put up most of the money, to repair and update the system in the city: Buying new trains and buses, replacing equipment that’s nearly a hundred years old. Dozens of stations will be improved, including putting some elevators in one of the stations. All told, over $68 billion.
The California High Speed Rail Project is one of the greatest boondoggles of all time, now projected to cost somewhere between $88 and $128 billion. That forty-billion- dollar margin of error is something we usually see for a Pentagon project, not laying track across desert. It was supposed to be completely finished five years ago, basically though they haven’t even started yet.
In South America, China, Brazil, and Peru are building a major rail project that will transform the interior logistics systems of South America. Its construction will be critical in integrating logistics and infrastructure in South America. The port at Chancay allowed to shipping to transit from South America to Asia in 10 days, and the new rail system will hook up the plumbing to the rest of the continent.
So this railway will cut across Brazil, from the Atlantic to Pacific. Brazil is a huge country. It’s bigger than the lower 48 states, so this would be the South American equivalent of the transcontinental railroads.
The project allows Brazil to export commodities to China via the Pacific, instead of using Atlantic ports, which will cut ten days of shipping time. 60% of Brazil’s exports to China are iron ores and soybeans, and transport by rail to Peru will be vastly more efficient than by truck to Atlantic ports, then through the Panama Cana.
This is the BRICS statement. The railway will have capacity of 18 million tons of cargo when it opens, and within ten years will haul 50 million tons of cargo a year. $50 billion of the project cost will come from China, which cuts the distance by 10,000 kilometers—over six thousand miles—and bypassing the Panama Canal.
It’s called the Bioceanic Railway. China is doing the preliminary surveying and engineering work on it now, to determine the most effective ways to integrate the infrastructure that Brazil already has with the new system.
They have not committed to build the project yet. It’s almost certain that they will, and the cost will be around $70 billion. But that’s the important part. $70 billion is what the UK is spending on their HS2 project, and it’s what New York City will spend replacing some old trains and equipment, and installing elevators, and so on. $70 billion in California won’t buy much at all. But for that same money, China, Brazil, and Peru will build a transcontinental railway spanning an area larger than the contiguous United States, that hauls 50 million tons of cargo a year.
Be Good.
Resources and links:
New York Times, The M.T.A. Gets $68 Billion in the State Budget. What Will Riders Get?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/nyregion/mta-budget.html
https://x.com/DOGE/status/1862883821798002786
Brazil & China move ahead on 3,000-km railway crossing the Amazon
China and Brazil plan Pacific and Atlantic rail link
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/china-and-brazil-plan-pacific-and-atlantic-rail-link
The New Route to Development: Chinese Investments in Brasil’s Railways
Brazil, China sign agreement to plan railroad to Peru
Newsweek, New York's $68 Billion Plan to Revive Subway System
https://www.newsweek.com/new-york-city-68-billion-subway-system-restore-2078861
CNN, Britain is building one of the world’s most expensive railways. Many people now think it’s pointless
https://www.cnn.com/travel/hs2-britain-expensive-high-speed-railway
Newsweek, South America Explores Building Own 2,800-Mile Transcontinental Railroad
https://www.newsweek.com/south-america-transcontinental-rail-2097141
Excellent news. Anything to reduce carbon emissions. This will be good for all the South American countries. Once again, I see China investing for the future as a world builder. The US Capitalists need to make excessive profits to invest, so they invest in bubble memes. Maybe this is why the Chinese sold their Panama Canal ports to Blackrock? hahaha.
Should just call the Chinese in to build the railroad projects in the US, just like they did when California was first created. That would be poetic.