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Private railway operators in Tokyo aren't subsidized by the state, though I think they get a not-insignificant portion of their income from property rents around stations.

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This would make sense. If the real estate could be owned by the operators of the subway, the subway could capture that value created* and distribute it to upkeep of the whole system.

Since this is not the case in NYC and Chicago - private individuals / the city owns the property adjacent to transit, there needs to be some other way to capture that value. Enter a sane, necessary taxation / subsidization mechanism.

* The value is real. Property adjacent to transit was insulated from the 2008 crash: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/03/22/study-homes-near-tran...

Simple: factor the distance and access to public transit into the taxable valuation of property. If the state is subsidizing transit, and transit makes the land more desirable, it stands to reason that the land is more valuable and should pay higher property taxes.

Did the private railway operators purchase the land and build the railway too?

They purchased the assets (including land) from the government who purchased the land and built the railway.

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