A feasible system between major metro areas would be superb. However, that still leaves out a majority of the country (by area, not population).
It wouldn't be acceptable to have tax dollars for people in say... Montana... have MAYBE one or two stops in their state with the majority of access being a complete inconvenient mess for them while people in an urban setting have direct and immediate access and are generally getting their money's worth. Essentially, even if it were as sporadic as national airports and covered similar ground you would still have plenty of people that don't find it convenient. Because of this you'd more or less have to privatize it and much like many other forms of transportation people would opt for driving and getting the job done in half the time as opposed to paying the same amount for a ticket and putting up with the multiple annoyances that are only bearable when the cost is cheap and the distance you have to go is short.
See, the big draw to public transportation has to be the value and efficiency or it will be generally neglected in areas where it's just as monetarily acceptable to have your own transportation. I live in Cincinnati, and the town is based heavily on its suburbs. This is why a rail system in Cincinnati isn't going to be here anytime soon. The majority of people that work in the city come from surrounding areas, not just a few blocks away or anything. Parking isn't CHEAP, but it's still affordable. After business hours, downtown is a ghost town. There is NOTHING going on there. Yeah, a rail system might bring more people IN to the city, but there is literally NO draw to keep them there. The bars aren't that great, there are some decent restaurants downtown but the BEST dining is outside of the city... there's no entertainment. So essentially a rail system makes sense for the 40 hour work week and not much more. We can't even effectively use our buses for more than that time, so why would we want something more often?
Despite being regarded as behind the times, Cincy is a great example of the country in general. Nobody is going to be interested or consider their money well spent unless the system is more effective than their current situation. The people in the suburbs of Cincy know that any rail system isn't going to help them out because it's only going to be in the city... if they have to drive that far, they might as well finish the drive rather than wait half an hour on a train or bus. The same goes for smaller areas of the country where people won't have direct access to the system.
Sorry for rambling, but I'm bored as all hell at work.
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