"Unlike Mr. Heartfield, I actually have written technical reports on transit expansion and so I at least know enough not to confuse capacity with ridership and not to equate journeys by car with journeys by rail."
My point was exactly that one cannot equate train journeys with car journeys. More specifically, the train will never substitute for the car. There just is no way that it could multiply its ridership by eight times, even if the rail lines were going to the places that the drivers were. Better organisation of capacity is a fringe issue that will not make any dent in the numbers. All of the popular lines in the UK are stretched beyond capacity.
Pro-rail activists have been trying to demonstrate that rail is more economic or effective for years. And yet strangely, car miles continue to climb absolutely and as a share of all miles travelled, while rail, cycling and walking continue to decline. There must come a point when one has to ask what use is such a counter-factual investigation.
But don't be shy, Tom, let us know about your 'reports' so we can all have a look at them.