Yes, what about progress?
Trains are not progress. Advancing personal transport, i.e. driverless cars, makes much more sense. America has always moved "Forward" by promoting freedom of choice and opportunity for the individual, not Five Years Plans and brutal oppression from the central government telling us how to go from place to place.
So-called "bullet" trains are not energy-efficient. You can't change the laws of physics. If you want to save the planet, stay home.