Who travels long distance on Amtrak and why when it is so cost ineffective?

For curiosity's sake I just checked online what it would cost to travel from Minneapolis to New York by both train and airplane. On Amtrak it would cost about $349 round trip traveling for 28 hours each way and on an airplane it would cost $172 round trip and you would arrive the same day. I also checked what it would cost from Minneapolis to Chicago and it would cost $106 by train traveling eight hours each way or it would cost $115 by airplane with a very short flight, albeit with some lead time necessary for check in and baggage claim. MY POINT IS THIS: Why would anyone pay the same price or more to use such a slow mode of transportation? It is no wonder that more Americans don't use m transit and are so car-centric: if you want them to use other means of transportation it has to make financial sense for them!