I have a hard time believing this is a serious comment. Obviously plane travel is in no way comparable to travel intended to replace the family car -- they're

I have a hard time believing this is a serious comment. Obviously plane travel is in no way comparable to travel intended to replace the family car -- they're wildly different modes of transportation with different destinations, plane travel is vastly less frequent, and its many annoyances are dealt with because it is the only reasonably expedited way to travel the distances it covers. Depending on what you mean by "train" travel, that is perhaps more comparable (ie, local subway is in some ways a substitutable good for local car travel). In short, though: families are considerably less likely to find local rail travel useful than are single people. Yes, of course you can find people who use it by choice or necessity. But when you have to tote a baby carrier and diaper bag, or your kid's soccer gear, or just keep track of a gaggle of children in a crowded train, it's just much less convenient.