In America there is a freight rail system with some passengers, while in Europe there is a passenger rail system with some freight

An advocacy article but with an interesting observation. From Why Trains Are So Much Greener Than Cars or Airplanes by Andreas Hoffrichter.

Often there is the perception that the U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to rail, but in many cases that is not true. The country has, arguably, the best freight rail system in the world, which is owned, operated, and financed by private companies. Passenger service in specific corridors is comparable with the European counterparts: for example, in the Northeast. On long-distance routes and in less densely populated areas, however, there are often empty seats on Amtrak trains.

The U.S. freight train system is more developed than passenger rail, which is the opposite of Europe. (Nati Harnik/AP)
The primary difference between Europe and North America could be summarized like this: In America there is a freight rail system with some passenger, while in Europe there is a passenger rail system with some freight—the emphasis is different.

A further difference is that the rail network is private in the U.S. and operated to yield a profit, while in most other countries the rail infrastructure is owned by the government (similar to the freeway system in the U.S.) and heavily subsidized.