ChrL, railroads in the US have a freight ("goods") focus. US freight railroads are very profitable, very efficient and very low-cost and have much higher market shares compared to Europe's often unprofitable, inefficient and expensive freight railroads. Unfortunately the result is that passenger trains don't get a lot of attention, and that's what you saw.

So: Europe has great passenger trains but a disastrous freight railroad system. The US has a great freight railroad system but a less prominent passenger train system. No country has perfect freight and passenger railroads--just one of the two.