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[quote user="HarveyK400"] Making service available to more people makes it more relevant, a circumstance that belies the argument for general public support only for highways and airports that Samantha seems to want to deny rail service.  [/quote]The true justification for intercity rail is market demand.  That is to say, enough people are willing to use and pay for the service to justify the investment.Demand might be said to consist of push and pull.  Push comes from people seeking other options, i.e. intercity trains as opposed to driving, flying, etc.  Pull demand comes from creating an option and drawing people to it, i.e. people don't think about taking a train until they see that it is a good option.  This is what Amtrak's National Train Day was all about - creating demand.   There is overlap between push demand and pull demand.  People may be frustrated with their options, but they don't see clearly an alternative.  Pull demand, if the designers read the tea leaves correctly, can clarify the desires of the market place.  In a competitive market, if the pull demand is not structured to respond to the push demand, the enterprise fails.   In Texas, which is my home state, and the place that I am most familiar, there is very little push demand for intercity rail.  Most of it is for better highways and air service.  In the major cities, i.e. Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, there is some push demand for commuter rail, although pull demand, which has been created by transport and city planners, many of whom would not be caught dead commuting on public transport, is a bigger factor.Investing in intercity rail is justified only in those situations where the cost of additional investment in highways and airways would be prohibitive.  We're a long way from this scenario in Texas.I have argued, however, that where there is justification for expanding existing passenger rail or creating new passenger rail service, it must be frequent, quick, dependable, safe, and economically competitive.  On several occasions I have referred to the Southwest Airlines model as one that should be followed.  Southwest goes into a new city with low fares and frequent service.  It never tries to penetrate a market with just one or two flights a day.
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