You could say the same about pretty much any infrastructure. It’s hideously expensive and will never get paid back by utilization.

• highways
• local roads
• bridges
• air traffic control
• utilities of most kinds
• canals
• flood control
• erosion mitigation

All are hideously expensive and will never get paid back by utilization.

Are they all bad investments?

I claim they all are critical for their indirect benefits to an economy, a society, and rail is exactly the same.