Governments should spend more money on railways rather than roads. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some people say that the government ought to allocate more of their budget to rail than roadways. I totally disagree with this statement because trains are faster and more environmentally friendly. Investing in a modern train system will mean that people can get around a country faster. This is because train passengers do not have to deal with the congestion most road users experience and trains can achieve much higher speeds than cars. Therefore, people will spend less time commuting and more time doing something more productive and this will benefit the entire society. For example, the British Government recently unveiled plans to connect cities in the North of England with London via a high-speed rail network and this will reduce commuting times by half, allowing thousands of people in the Midlands to work in London. Locomotives tend to be less harmful to the environment than cars. This is due to the fact that a train can carry hundreds of passengers and this prevents the use of hundreds of internal combustion engines, thus reducing the number of carbon emissions. If this is repeated every day over many different routes, the reduction in carbon footprint is highly significant. For instance, Ho Chi Minh City will soon open its first underground metro service and this will reduce the number of cars and motorbikes on the road. One of the main benefits to the city will be an improvement in carbon dioxide levels because of the reduction in traffic. In conclusion, the State should divert more funds to railway systems and spend less on road transportation as this will improve journey times and also be less harmful to the environment.