A subway is only for local trips. And only a very small part of the world has subways. I have never lived in a place with a subway. I did briefly live in Amsterdam but the subway wasn't very useful there.

With private transport I can go anywhere on the continent whenever I want.

Edit: reply to flexagoon since I am rate limited:

Going around Europe on trains is a total pain. There is a reason almost nobody does that and use airplanes instead.

Perhaps they can make the comfort of trains comparable with airplanes, so more people use it.

I'm OK with allocating tax money for better public transport but I just don't see myself using it.