> Why would I want me and my family on a packed train with our luggage and gear rather than in our comfortable, climate controlled, and spacious vehicle? Who would seriously vote for that?

You don't need to. It's not like those countries with extensive train networks don't have cars and interstate highways. They do and people use them. The point is that in those countries, cheap options exist for all income brackets and all use cases.

In America, it's a car or bust.

Poor people in America have cars generally speaking. In the USA our idea of poor is very far from what those countries consider poor to be. Our poor are solidly middle class by their standards.

> Poor people in America have cars generally speaking.

And are you saying poor people in America wouldn't want a cheaper mode of transportation as an option?

I think the poor people are generally happy with the situation except for gas prices. Poor people would like cheaper gas prices.

I'm afraid my experience with poor people has been very different. You should go visit some poor people in a suburb and hear their conversations - "I need to do an oil change but I can't spare the $100. I wish I had a ride to the grocery store"

In most other countries you don't need "a ride to the grocery store", that's also a very American-centric problem.