European trains are highly subsidized by taxes.
Actually, many Eropean passenger trains have been privatized (as have the Japanese passenger rail companies as well)
In many ways it's quite similar to the way private passenger bus companies operate on our Interstate highways.
Wrong. They are not privatized. They are owned by the public but some services/tasks are privatized. Just like labor unions hiring 8/hr unemployed to man picket lines. Even socialist states can not afford socialist workers.