Has UK rail's Elizabeth line shown what rail investment can achieve?

[erehweb]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/21/elizabeth-line-prize-worth-pursuing-achieved-rail-investment

[bell-cot]

An ever-so-warm and upbeat article. (Which is a Guardian specialty.)

But if you dig a click deeper, you'll see that the one rail line, 73km long, took nearly 15 years and £20bn to build.

If that's what "success" looks like...then don't expect to get much of it anytime soon.