You mentioned how the Histadrut and government ownership hinder the development of rail travel. In the US, private rail lines went bankrupt and all passenger rail is now government run. How could the current rail system in the US be privatized? The current system also has the usual labor union and affirmative action problems. Trains in Europe and Japan are light years ahead with bullet trains. In the US, Amtrak's Acela Express is the closest there is but it is very expensive and it's actually cheaper to fly on an airplane for that same route and also faster.