We used to have that in the flatter parts of Ohio (which is ~most of it), with street cars, and interurban lines linking many of even the tiniest towns together, and with passenger rail between larger cities.

It was privately-funded. It worked.

...until the automobile became more common and people stopped started driving cars instead. (The literal-conspiracy between General Motors and Firestone Tire didn't help, either.)

Here's a map from 1908: https://curtiswrightmaps.com/product/electric-railway-map-of...