The US has to use trains more, because it does not have all the coastline of Europe, where more cargo can easily travel by ship both on the coast and up rivers.
I honestly don't know what I am supposed to admire about airliners and airports in the US. If you think we admire that I am profoundly puzzled. Europe has lots of budget airlines. I cannot say I have seen the same in the US. We have frankly much nicer airports. Many US airports are getting old and run down IMHO.
European airports typically connect with trains and subways to city centers, making it really practical to get into down after you have landed.
As for commutes with airplanes. That happens in Europe too. Here in Norway many people fly between our major cities because you cannot run trains or roads quick through such a mountain filled country as Norway. Flying between Bergen, Stavanger and Oslo is pretty common. And this is perhaps no more than 1 hours flight.
Europe also isn't a contiguous landmass like the US. Amsterdam may be relatively short distance from Oslo if you could drive across the ocean, but you can't. It is about a 16 hour drive, but you can fly in about 2-3 hours. Yet Americans move more around the country to settle, but Europeans however have longer vacations and travel more. In addition the amount of crossborder busines has grown a lot, so there is a lot of business travel.
That you don't think is feasable to build lines between urban centers, while somehow easier in Europe is beyond strange. The US has mostly flat land, and lots of it. Density is very low making it a lot easier to squeeze in new infrastructure. Lots of European cities have histories back to medieval times and road networks based off old Roman roads. Things are not exactly layed out in an optimal fashion, and you cannot exactly knock down 1000 year old buildings to make way for a road or train tracks.
If Europeans can make it work with more difficult terrain, denser population and more historical legacy to deal with, then I cannot see what excuses on has in the US. Where there is a will, there is a way.
