I think it would only be fair to put the cost of constructing roads next to that number since those are mindblowingly high as well. The first result I saw was that a 6 lane highway costs about $7-11 million per mile and that doesn't count the cost of all the cars that use it where as the first stat would count the train. I also assume that steel tracks last a lot longer than road surface which has to be rebuilt every few years. Also the cost of carbon emissions is often ignored in car price stats.

For reference, in the United States, the amount of money spent on road maintenance per state controlled mile looks something like this:

* $2,700 in Alabama

* $80,000 in Massachusetts

* $84,000 in California

* $208,000 in New Jersey

https://reason.org/policy-study/23rd-annual-highway-report/m...

For context, making a new 2-lane road costs 2-5 million USD per mile.

I didn't realize roads were so expensive.

When land is expensive roads are expensive.