No, no and no. The rectangle defined by Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Des Moines is about as densely populated as most of Europe. Ditto for a triangle

No, no and no. The rectangle defined by Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Des Moines is about as densely populated as most of Europe. Ditto for a triangle like that in TX, and another polygon with one vertex in Atlanta. The east coast train network is not "large" given the population size. It consists of a primary line (Amtrak), and very little else given the population living with (say) 200 miles of that line. Ditto Caltrain, which compared to European service for similarly populated areas is incredibly limited. The line between Portland and Vancouver may yet see the sort of service you'd expect on that route if you were European, but it does not have it yet. The trains are relatively infrequent, and not very fast. Let's not talk about the customs/border situation either.