I haven’t read all the comments, so maybe this has been covered already, but it is certainly possible to use rail for efficient travel over distances greater than 300 miles. In my youth I used to stand on the platform at Grand Central Station and watch them roll out the red carpet for the arrival of the Twentieth Century Limited. Overnight between Chicago and New York City is very doable, if you can get the track up to some reasonable standard and can persuade the people running the thing to keep to the schedule.
It may not be possible for distances much greater than 1000 miles, but for those distances I’d rather take the train. For anything under 500 miles I drive. It’s so much better than flying the cost doesn’t even come into it, and the time is getting to be more and more of a wash, at least out here in the west where everyone passes you if you’re going as slow as 80. Elapsed time Salt Lake City to Boise is about 6 hours at the speed limit, 5 if you keep up with traffic.
