Railroads in the US and Europe

From High-Speed Train Talk:

"Look at the two pie charts on the map. Now consider the high-speed rail argument that we MUST have high-speed rail in the United States because it's so popular in Europe...The graph shows that Europe is far less smitten with rail transit than most of us have come to believe. In the European Community, 7.3% of the population travels by train, while 83.3% travel by car. That doesn't sound like trains, including the high-speed ones, are that popular!...

After the US copies Europe with a bunch of high-speed rail corridors, 83% of us will still be driving or taking the bus? Is that what you are trying to tell us, Mr. Secretary of Transportation?...

We have been saying for years that HSR will not---WILL NOT---reduce vehicle traffic from America's roads and highways.

Why not? Because If you overlay this high-speed rail map with a US map of the Interstate Highway System, you will see that the short, little red lines are a mere fraction of the routes Americans drive daily. And with the interstate highway system you have to include all the other roads and streets that are covered over with our automobiles. To all that car traffic, high-speed rail is totally irrelevant."

And high-speed rail will bankrupt California.