HSR, I think you are only partially right. I think you could throw in the words dependable, safe and convenient, which I feel are just as important. California is a good example where many years ago it was said they could never get people to ride a train. When you make the trains on time, can board them at a nice clean and safe station, and not just one train a day that comes in at three in the morning, people will actually ride the train, even when it is not HSR. And think, if California had spent their money trying to get from Bakersfield to LA using conventional rail instead of spending all that money going from Bakersfield to Fresno with HSR, what a winner they would have today. You could probably add good service to that list. Look what happened to the Coast Starlight when they made some minor improvements to it a few year back. I agree with you that the younger people seem to be more about getting there. But we are also an aging population,and it is they that have the money to travel. Also, I knew a group of young people (under 30) who rode Amtrak for the first time from LA to Chicago last year. They said that they really did enjoy the view and the relax atmosphere of the trip. The reason they hadn't taken a ride before, they did not know that Amtrak existed.