Passenger trains are in many cases a 19th Century solution to 21st Century transportation problems. They have their place in high-population-density areas. Unfortunately, many policy makers live/work in such areas, and think their transportation problems are everyone’s, even those in flyover country without the population density.
Most of my adult life the libs have been fighting to get “light rail” established in KCMO. Finally they got a two mile corridor between downtown and the Plaza.