What would be a more resilient mode of transportation? Few people would take a train from Chicago to Miami, for example. That's something like 1200 miles (2000km). Traveling from LA to NYC is like traveling from Lisbon to Moscow (2500mi/4000km by air).

The US should definitely have more rail--and higher speed rail--but that is only practical in select areas with enough population density. Many of the people in those areas could drive to where rail would service.