I'm not going to comment on your broader point as I largely agree passenger trains being unsuccessful is a policy choice. But Indiana particularly is a bad exa

I'm not going to comment on your broader point as I largely agree passenger trains being unsuccessful is a policy choice. But Indiana particularly is a bad example. 1/3 of the population you mention is in Indianapolis that has tried many times to have commuter trains, the population does not want them! Even modern/modest attempts have failed[0]. If commuter trains aren't popular with the people there why would longer haul passenger rail be? Even if you could magic an Acela route between Chicago and Indianapolis into existence it would not be faster than a car or the many private bus routes that go there and you'd have to deal with the inconvenience of getting to the start and end locations in a city that has rejected public transportation. The northern population centers which account for another 6th of the population of Indiana are already serviced by regular electric inter urban trains into Chicago, the nearest big population center. That line is seeing about 50% less usage compared to pre-Covid numbers. So beyond just the policy choices, in Indiana at least there is strong evidence for a lack of desire for inter-urban rail. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_University_Health_People_Mover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_University_Health_Peop...