This comparison is worthless. It’s like comparing Betamax and Blu-Ray DVDs by the cost to produce Betamax tapes which basically aren’t in production.
Comparisons can’t be made tween systems currently dominant and systems that never saw dominance. Scale makes a huge difference as to what the price of a product or service is.
So today comparing trains, which aren’t used much with planes which are used all the time, isn’t useful for much anything besides seeing who is on what service.
To understand what I’m saying, try to estimate or imagine what it might cost to fly if the ridership were reversed. Flying wouldn’t be very economical. It prolly would be impossible for everyone but the super rich. Trains would definitely be usable if more people used them which goes back to the plan by the airlines and auto industry to derail the train industry before it could really get going. This was done deliberately. So putting it on the size of the country is ridiculous. That’s not the problem. Most people aren’t flying cross country anyhow.
Scale matters.
