I guess your definition for "the rich" is "not poor":
57€ for a 700 km travel is cheap compared to a car that will take x2 the time, unless you are OK with burning double the money on fuel and ignoring speed limits, of course risking fines and license suspension.
A full car will be cheaper if you ignore the cost of the car itself + maintenance and saved time. Families use to travel by car on holidays only because they need the car for short trips during the holidays, not because it's cheaper.
Buses were dirty cheap, I haven't even looked at the prices in the last twenty years, I had enough unconfortable eight hours travels when I had no alternative.
I am comparing high speed rail to conventional rail. High speed tickets are at least twice as much. The price of a bus is similar to the conventional train which is disappearing leaving the bus as the only cheap alternative. You are probably not poor.
57€ for a 700 km travel is cheap compared to a car that will take x2 the time, unless you are OK with burning double the money on fuel and ignoring speed limits, of course risking fines and license suspension.
A full car will be cheaper if you ignore the cost of the car itself + maintenance and saved time. Families use to travel by car on holidays only because they need the car for short trips during the holidays, not because it's cheaper.
Buses were dirty cheap, I haven't even looked at the prices in the last twenty years, I had enough unconfortable eight hours travels when I had no alternative.