no, I think that's the smartest solution. It just doesn't "get rid" of traffic in the city. Unless you have the infrastructure to go from point to point then I just don't see the market based solution.
As an example, the Southwest Airlines president stated that he was never competing against other airlines in Texas, he was competing with cars.
The infrastructure is expensive, the unions control the employees and gas is relatively cheap. So unless the convenience of the rail outweighs that of the car, well then you get the Amtrak boondoggle.
From my point of view, high speed rail in Texas’ point is not to reduce traffic in the cities themselves but to reduce traffic on the limited highways between cities. And at night, it could be used to ship light freight and mail between Texas cities, a task currently done by tractor trailers.
Also, Texas is union-hostile.