My brother in Christ, China has urbanized faster than any society in human history.

The people pay to maintain the rails through taxes, failing to “recoup the maintenance” just means the lines are subsidized.

By that logic if they charged no fee to use them, it would be infinitely wasteful…

Which, by the way, have you noticed most highways are free to use? Does that not make them money losers?

So are parks, and sidewalks.

I’ve never seen them criticized as wasteful. The point is not to make money with them.