I also spent years in Europe, and I really enjoyed using the train. I agree that the distances for intercontinental rail in the US are too great, but I can’t understand why there is not more regional rail.
It’s very much a Catch-22 situation, IMO. DC Metrorail is seeing a big increase in ridership now that gas prices are so high, but it will be years before the money from increased revenue allows them to buy more cars for those riders, or to expand lines further into the areas those riders live in.
The sad truth is, until the 1950′s many US metro areas across the country had reliable interurban rail, it was al pushed away in a wash of cheap oil and suburban development.
The Northeast is great for rail, I just wish I didn’t have to drive 2 hours to DC to catch the Acela north, trains from and to the Shenandoah Valley are few and far between, and definitely not made for business trips.
When I lived in West Texas I’d have loved to have been able to take a train from San Angelo to Dallas or San Antonio, that was 3 to 5 hours out of my life, one way!
The only way that passenger rail is going to take over is when enough people demand it, I don’t think everyone is doing that yet.
