We can't let perfect be the enemy of 'good' or even 'better than what we have now'. Yeah, I'd prefer trains. Trains aren't practical where I am, because the population density is far too low. Even buses aren't practical. OTOH, building out the light/consumer rail and bus systems in the nearest city would be fantastic.
Station-to-station sure, but what about first and last miles? Nearly everyone who takes a train has to take additional transport to get to the station and final destination (especially in the States), and needs to be accounted for.
Honestly, I’d have guessed that for the same passenger-mile that the train would win by a lot more than 2x. Even a diesel train moves a LOT of stuff per gallon burned.
It would be a big win if people drove their electric vehicle to the train station. They could even put small wind turbines up around the station, like flower turbines to generate power for EV chargers and some of the station's needs
