Japan’s bullet trains were a feather in that country’s technological cap, but they sent the formerly profitable Japanese National Railways (JNR) into virtual bankruptcy. The government was forced to absorb $200 billion in high-speed debt. Meanwhile, far from attracting people out of their cars, high-speed rail accelerated the growth in driving as JNR raised fares to cope with its losses.

Europe’s record with high-speed rail hasn’t been much better. Though nations in the European Union spend an estimated $100 billion per year subsidizing intercity rail, rail has slowly but steadily lost market share since Italy opened the continent’s first high-speed line in 1978. Today, less than 6 percent of passenger travel goes by rail.

We car-crazy Americans drive for 85 percent of our travel. Europeans drive for 79 percent. Spending several hundred billion dollars to get, at best, 5 or 6 percent of people out of their cars is not worthwhile. The real impact of high-speed rail is that it replaces private air service with heavily subsidized rail service.