Japan privatized their railway in the early 90s. It's really good. This is not an endorsement of privatization just a counterpoint to the argument of national vs privatized transport systems. What it means is leadership and management has to be truly held accountable.

Worth pointing out that a major part of why it works in Japan is that rail companies also own real estate around stations. High foot traffic allows them to charge high rent to stores.

This is also the business model for the private rail in Hong Kong, Singapore, and now Florida with Brightline.

The Brightline model is surprising because it shouldn't work. Miami and Orlando aren't well thought of for there public transit systems. Yet, this premium intercity train is expanding. I'm not convinced they are profitable as a train, but they own the property around downtown train stations which is really hot right now.

japan maybe? I don't know all the details of their setup though. I know there are multiple lines managed by multiple different companies though.

Japan is well known for its excellent rail system, which is almost entirely privately run.

For European countries your point stands.

If companies in the US and Europe had the same sense of social duty that companies in Japan do, this wouldn't be an issue in the first place, though.