Which countries are better at it? The UK has very little (if any) greenfield development opportunities left. You really have to keep things in context. This is a tunnel under London, not some viaduct across bare meadows. One thing you learn in engineering before long is the enormous cost of existing development/infrastructure. You can't always wipe the slate clean and start again even if we'd all like to sometimes.
Which countries are better at it? The UK has very little (if any) greenfield development opportunities left. You really have to keep things in context. This is a tunnel under London, not some viaduct across bare meadows. One thing you learn in engineering before long is the enormous cost of existing development/infrastructure. You can't always wipe the slate clean and start again even if we'd all like to sometimes.