And where was the Orange County Register when a Republican started a program that cost billions and began with a four lane superhighway built in rural Kansas and Missouri?
Was that a boondoggle? Was the government coercing people from speedy, comfortable, and privately operated passenger trains onto government subsidized Interstate highways at the behest of the oil companies and auto manufacturers who were later convicted of a conspiracy to end privately operated public transit systems?
High speed rail *could* be privately run - like it almost was in Texas - but the lawsuit industry has effectively made such private enterprises impossible. So, like highways and airports, high speed rail can only be built by government. That’s not to say it can’t later be privatized just like some Interstate highways were.
Road building is a legitimate government function to foster commerce. And building a high speed rail is adding value for the tax dollar unlike entitlements.
You are forgetting one thing PASSENGER RAIL IN AMERICA IS DEAD!!!!