Because the government actually has an incentive to run infrastructure well. It's democratically accountable if it doesnt. There is a lever there that you can p

Because the government actually has an incentive to run infrastructure well. It's democratically accountable if it doesnt. There is a lever there that you can push if you are unhappy. If you run the electric grid or the last mile water pipes privately competition is essentially impossible so there's no reason for the owners not to just neglect it and milk customers dry. With trains the really criminal part was that the land around stations got sold off for cheap to hedge funds who made a LOT of money. Japanese trains can be run at a profit despite taking losses on tickets because they didnt do this.