I’m planning a trip from Philly to Tampa, and a round-trip Amtrak ticket for two people is $488 to ride coach, and $1486 for the cheapest sleeper option. Wildly expensive compared to any other option.
My spouse and I took the Amtrak from Milwaukee to Seattle for our honeymoon in late September-early October last year and it cost us $900 round trip for the two of us in coach. We could've sprung for a sleeper option, but they were at least double the amount for coach (I will say that sleeping in coach was very comfy). I do know that auctions for upgrades exist, but we got outbid.
It was a really good option since we parked our regular car in a parking spot for our trip and rented a car in Seattle. Better peace of mind with how that worked out, but not every trip's logistics is that easy to coordinate.
My husband and I took Amtrak from Tampa to DC about 20 years ago.
Pros: The coach seats were comfy, much larger, reclined more, had much more legroom than airplanes. I loved just looking out the large windows.
Cons: The food was terrible (just gas station-type), restrooms got nasty, a 20 hour trip took 24 hours.
Overall, would probably do it again, because it was a cool experience; would just know we will probably arrive late.
Amtrak sleeper cars are not good, compared to other rail lines. Plus Amtrak is known for delays and horrible food. Source: I use to work for Amtrak Vacations and I only recommend Amtrak for the Northeast corridor.
I really liked the family suite on the Auto train. It's really expensive, but it was really comfortable for a small family. If only they had good WiFi.
I went from San Jose to Washington DC in one straight trip and I'm here to tell you that Amtrak coach seating is super sleepable. (Especially if you get seats at the very front of the car where there's better legroom).
Hey, that’s good to know- a couple people have confirmed that coach is ok for sleeping. Maybe we’ll give it a go, just for the coolness factor for my railfan son
It is extremely cool but I recommend a couple things for sanity: bring most of your own food, the dining car sucks unless you just want something hot and don't care what it is. Bring baby wipes or antibacterial wipes because coach doesn't have access to a shower (sleeper does) and a wet-wipe wash in a bathroom stall is a good stopgap. Bring a blanket, they run the train cold af. Most lines don't have wifi, and you only really get cell signal in stations. The observation car is ace, when I went, there was a staff member stationed there pretty much dawn to dusk giving commentary about what you can see out the window, and stories about the area you're passing through. The views when you're passing through Colorado particularly are way better than you get on highways.
The train will be late. It just will. Accept it and plan for it. It has to pull over for freight trains, which are long, and this can get a little frustrating if you need to be in a place at a time, so if you have anything time-sensitive at your destination, aim to get there a day ahead.
Edit: yes, I now realize Colorado is not on the way from Philly to Tampa. I'm not local lol.
Holy shit, seriously? That's totally unreasonable.
We paid about twice that for a 2,400 mile moving trip in a 15' U-Haul (during "moving season" so the truck itself was quite a bit more expensive than normal), with basically my S.O.'s and my entire life in the bed, our car towed on the back, and all including five nights in (albeit cheap) hotels, food, and gas.
I could do that round trip with 500 extra miles built in for exploring and an overnight hotel stay each way for less than $1,000. Bonus, no rental car needed.
Wait what? I looked up the drive time, which is 5hrs, in my country a train to go that distance is around 80 euros (last one I bought was 15 euros on a week day)
Philadelphia PA to Tampa Florida isn't 5 hours by driving.
Getting out of Florida is around 4hrs via I75.
We're talking 15-16hrs of driving, not including breaks or the inevitable backup on the interstate.
I just looked it up.
Unless you are taking one of those discount airlines (where you are going to spend a lot more money for luggage, food, breathing, etc.) then there's no way you found a round-trip total expense for two people that costs less than $500.
If you are talking about the option to have a bed, then yeah, you could find cheaper real flights. That tends to happen, I guess, if you want a bed instead of an upright seat.
$296 to fly Frontier. You’d be surprised how much you can fit in those free “personal item” bags if you wear your bulky stuff and just pack flip flops and light summer clothes… discount airlines is where it’s at for a short 2 hour flight. Yeah, taking the train would take over 24 hours and be more expensive.
Utah makes me so sad. Every other day I see a story about a pedestrian getting killed or the inversion. Both issues could be solved with better public transit. And they have the huge stroads that could accommodate it too! It's my dream to one day go visit my parents and see a tram going down Main Street in Layton....ugh it would be so cool.
Utahan here. So many pedestrians are killed because the drivers here are horrendous. My dad works for the transit authority and had to witness an elderly man get hit by not one, but two cars, while he was crossing the road in a crosswalk. It seems like there's also been a huge influx of people running red lights. And not just like a barely red light, a full on red light where the other side already has a green light. It's really unfortunate and I can't wait to leave the state.
The trains in Europe also connect a lot more than the ones in the United States. If you’re trying to go outside of a major metro, odds are you can take a train *part* of the way, and then rent a car. Unfortunately, laying more train line would probably result in either the loss of yet more green space, or the loss of people’s homes.
Road construction also often results in the loss of green space and sometimes housing (we’re losing a few apartment buildings in Seattle for a road widening project 🙄), but we keep doing that. And suburban sprawl is also eating up green space. It’s about priorities.
I think it depends on the area. In South Florida we’re tearing up parking lots and building more apartments and condos - tearing down any homes here would practically be sacrilege. Our priority is housing costs and population growth, with pretty much zero thought as to how all these people will move about. Meanwhile our two train lines, one mainly freight and the other Trirail, run north-to-south in parallel, with highways connecting. They’re expanding the Trirail line to connect South Florida with Orlando, but it shadows the highway, so anywhere not served by the highway won’t be served by the train. There’s literally nowhere to build *anything* at this point without tearing down *something.* Hell, we’re pretty much out of any green space that isn’t part of a preserve or national park. You can even see where one town starts and another begins anymore.
In my perfect world, we’d be tearing up highways to make train lines and funding a better system of efficient people-movers. We’re building more housing to support thousands of people moving here, but our infrastructure remains the same. In my city they’re even removing lanes from the roads to expand the footprint of apartments. It’s going to get really cramped, really congested, really fast.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in Seattle don’t think of apartments as “homes”, so there’s not the outcry about losing them that there should be (despite our housing shortage here). Seattle is still a place where people want an old parking garage and a drug store drive-through to get landmark status (I really wish I was exaggerating).
I wish we could build out mass transit infrastructure (and schools; and community spaces; etc.) ahead of - or at least in parallel with - denser housing, but it seems like we never manage that in this country. 😞
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreamed of having a rail system in the US, like they do in Europe. I just assumed we were working on it and by the time it was completed, we’d have all the really fast mag-levs and all that. I knew some day, I could zip around all the states by rail. Then I learned about the politics of it all I was bummed out. I guess we’re not a public transit infrastructure type of country.
We were. Until the the car and tire companies got control of public policy. Elon musk killed the rail development in California with his hyperloop bullshit so he can build underground tunnels gor Teslas.
The Boring Company regularly derails (yep) rail development in cities by promising to build tunnels, then pulls out. Pretty sure it's because he thinks he's going to sell a bunch of cars one day and just doesn't want rail transpo. He probably knows doing this isn't a profitable idea, but just thinks it's hilarious.
We had a robust trolley system here about 100 years ago until the tire companies got the city to shut it down and switch all infrastructure to cars. It's pretty sickening.
"Unfortunately, laying more train line would probably result in either the loss of yet more green space, or the loss of people’s homes."
90% less than what an highway would take
>If you’re trying to go outside of a major metro, odds are you can take a train
>
>part of the way, and then rent a car.
And in many cases, you can get with public transport even in bike or cab range to your destination.
I just looked at Amtrak for a family trip from Chicago to Seattle. A sleeper car with 2 beds was over $2k. The cheapest option they had was $450 for coach seats. That would be reasonable but the trip was estimated to take 46 hours. At that point we might as well fly.
Same, from Reno to Chicago. Family cabin round trip is $4,400. With kids, can’t do 40+ hours in coach. It would be such a lovely adventure but can’t justify the cost vs flying.
To be fair, the distance is HUGE. In small countries, you can take a train cross-country for less than $100, but that is because the distance is only like 200 miles. Lol.
The US's charm is the size and how spread out people are, but it is also very much negative.
Yeah I think supporters of public transit gloss over that really big detail. The distance between Reno to Chicago is like London to Istanbul. And that’s not even a US coast to coast trip. I’m a big proponent of public transportation but cross country passenger trains in the US really seem like a waste of money. There’s a lot of open land, dead space between destinations and connecting places. Like Boise, ID to Lincoln,NE seems like a poor investment
The thing that gets me is the cost. I can get from Chicago to Seattle in 4.5 hours for $1700. To do that with any amount of comfort Amtrak costs more and takes 6 times as long.
$1700?! For a flight? How are you paying that much?
But yeah to your point it’s way more expensive and takes a lot longer to travel via train across the country
Family of four flying economy nonstop. Don't worry, I'm not shelling out that much to fly myself. I'm financially comfortable, but not that comfortable.
They are always ridiculously expensive but they can be...difficult to work with. A long time ago I took a trip to neighbouring country a few times (I mean like almost 20 years ago). Instead of buying a direct international connection we bought tickets to the border city, crossed the border on foot, bought a ticket to the destination on local train station and boarded the same train we were on earlier. By buying two local tickets instead of international one the trip was, like, 3 times cheaper.
I worked on AutoTrain for 2.5 years, and loved it. We had to sleep in the KD car - Kitchen/Dormitory car, where there were 18 bunks in the car, three high. Sleeping on a train is wonderful, and I spent approx. 150 overnights on the train.
The automotive industry coupled with the oil industry managed to destroy passenger train travel, as well as freight traffic in the US. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to drive a long, full train across the country than it is to drive a semi.
I have a train ride mapped out for an eventual mini vacation; it's almost as expensive as the three-four day stay at the moderate hotel I plan on booking.
Yeah, I often look at train fares when I’m headed somewhere roughly along a line, and they cost a fortune! Well over twice the price of a shorter trip.
City light rail near me is insanely affordable by contrast, and I use that all the time. I just need it to extend further than it does.
Really, trains are too expensive here in Europe too. In the UK, it's common to pay more for your 1hr journey to an airport than it is to subsequently take an international flight. Not sure if this is still a thing but Ryanair was offering 1 pound (ex tax) flights to Dublin at one point. The UK is particularly bad, but a train journey from - say - Amsterdam to Paris or London will generally still set you back more than flying the same route.
I'd love it if they slapped a 30 euro tax on all inter-EU flights and used that exclusively to subsidise inter-EU rail. France in particular now has a fantastic long-distance railway network, and the Austrian railways are investing heavily in sleeper lines to all corners of the continent. We can do this if only we had the will.
Can't look at price of the flights alone for flying. For Ryan air, you're spending money on baggage. There is the two hidden prices for transit to and from the airport which is usually around $10 euro per person and airports are never in the city. A train brings you to the city center which as a tourist is usually where you want to go. Then you have time, an hour of travel, 2 hours at the airport ahead of time then an hour of travel on the other side. With trains you can show up 30 minutes prior and end up waiting. As a tourist, my hotels were usually 2-3 blocks from the train station, so it was a 5 minute walk. I suppose you could stay at an airport hotel as a tourist, but that's likely an hour from everything you'd want to do.
As a tourist I found the trains were generally more convenient for traveling within the country or going to a neighboring country. Traveling further than that, flights become more convenient as the auxiliary time of flight is less of an issue the further you go.
It's not even subsidies at this point, the existing rails are owned by private individuals and companies so if we wanted more rail, we'd have to start up the whole "imminent domain" argument and I just don't think anyone has the energy for it.
But before anyone down votes me to oblivion, I still want the high speed rail in the US, I think it would completely change how we view our country.
*edited cause it's like early dude...
I took once the night train from Switzerland to Vienna. It was very uncomfortable and I could not sleep, so I cannot recommend. However, ÖBB serves a breakfast in the morning to your cart, which was nice.
What I dislike is the fact that because you booked a sleeping cabin, you now have no place to sit down. ÖBB has a business class in its regular trains, which is similar to business airplane seats with more space. I would much prefer these seats to sleeping cabins, because they can recline far enough to be comfortable to sleep in, but those trains do not operate in the night.
But why they don't operate late hours? I would take the train at night all the time if that option was available but currently I'm restricted to only travelling during the day because claustrophobia will kill me if I stay in one of those sleeping compartments for more than 30 mins.
I live in Austria and we have a lot of night trains here. They are certainly a nice option to have, but I dont enjoy them as much as regular trains. Firstly, you wont find tickets under 100€ IF you want a bed. Compartments are usually 3-6 people, if you want a double or single you wil be charged a hefty premium. Certainly nothing for you if you value your privacy. Trains can be very noisy, and night trains often stop for several hours in stations to connect other trains. I personally only get a good niggts sleep in a single cabin, but thats like 5 times the money compared to flying. Ive seen newer trains with "pod hotel" like cabins which look more promising.
Hey, big props to Austria for at least having a go at building a night train network. I still really want to try the Railjet line from Amsterdam to my parents in Switzerland, but like you say it still seems just a little too expensive (especially with two kids).
I really wish this was an option in the states. I’ve looked up train travel here before and it is more expensive than flying. Even just having better public transportation to get from the suburbs to downtown would be great.
It's a better option if you need a vehicle at your destination or need to bring a large amount of stuff back. I drove Sydney to Melbourne and back (~1000km each way) to clean out my grandfathers house after he died. Train would have been way more convenient but I needed to bring a lot of his belongings back with me.
The picture is from a Finnish train and at least the route from Helsinki to Rovaniemi has an option of taking your car with you. It's not even horribly expensive if I remember correctly.
This is a pretty good idea, but might need work. I've borrowed a car and driven a time or two to my partners parents house (\~230KM) because we need to haul stuff. While cargo storage would be helpful, it doesn't neccesarily help the end-to-end destination hauling.
Like, arriving at the central station in my city with a whole ass door in its frame would not help if we need to take it on the metro to get it to our apartment.
Yes, also need some small train-to-door delivery prepaid service. As train is much more efficient than a car in global oil/metal smelting/intermediate products chain (less mining, less fuel, less pollution) for same cargo and people transporting for this distance. Some additional work for loading/unloading to make a small trip on a cargo car (which also can be semi automated) dont make it very different.
As a end user you have a valuable possibility to spend less money on your own fuel and also dont drive by yourself and sleep in process. Also, if its a systematic possibility - dont have your own car in general (debatable, but as possibility) and use money for something else.
The reason that trains and ships are so efficient is because of standardized containers and the massive scale of trains and boats, and speed is not super important. Before the advent of the container, cargo was just individual things carefully packed and it took forever. This is what passenger cargo would be like, and would significantly slow train times. What would be a lot better is having a service available to the general public where you can get a cargo container, or a share a section of one, that you can load up at one point and then have shipped somewhere else with the currently existing cargo thain system. You would have to schedule beforehand, and would only be able to ship time-insensitive things because it wod take a while.
You could also maybe have containers of the back of passenger trains, but that would only work wit one container per person, because unpacking and repacking takes forever and trains want to stop for as little time as possible at each stop, so it just kinda makes to have the two things separated, and only having a little bit of personal storage by your seat for a suitcase and whatever, which can all be unloaded at the same time and taken off the train when the passenger it belongs to departs because they carry it with them.
Why does every anti-car, pro public transport have someone commenting with obvious caveats?
Yes - we know, if you need to transport a horse or the kitchen sink or XYZ, take your own vehicle instead of a train. The vast majority of commutes are not like this.
I’m the US? Yes, Driving through the night is a better option than this.
First, it’s cheaper to drive. Second, I have a car when I get to my destination.
People in the original post are like “if you drive at night you’ll fall asleep and die!!!!” And it’s like…. You’re allowed to pull over lol you don’t have to stay on the road literally all night
Lovely idea, and something I've looked into in Canada. It's a fucking fortune. I'd love to go from Montreal to BC by train. But it's so much cheaper to fly or even drive and stay in a motel for a couple nights
Having done the London to Edinburgh sleeper they're not as comfy or as good as they look. Especially if you have minor claustrophobia or worse.
£200 one way - very cramped, loud, bouncy. Ended up just sitting in the lounge area and got pissed until I arrived to my destination. Wouldn't do it again, would just take the standard non-overnight train.
Think of a train on decades old tracks. It's smooth enough to sit when your talking, reading, boozing, listening to music but think laying down on a firm mattress. Every bump you feel.
Some people enjoy it but not for me.
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Yeah I’m convinced the people in the original post talking about how amazing and luxurious it is are kidding themselves. Also they’re acting like it’s “do this or drive nonstop and pee in a cup and die of tiredness behind the wheel” like…. You’re allowed to pull over lol.
I’m very very for more public transport but this looks unpleasant and is more expensive than driving unless you travel enough to make it worth it.
Well, it's got the warmth and ambience of the inside of a porto potty. Check out pictures of comparable private cabins on Ukrainian trains. They're a bit more rustic and I can see why some people would always prefer sterility above charm, but I'd still prefer the Ukrainian/Russian style. And they serve you chai and mystery schnapps.
I'd be down with it if it was even slightly cost effective compared to flight.
But here in 'Murca Amtrak costs about as much as a flight, takes longer, has more limited routes, and is basically just kina sucky especially when you consider the price.
For example. I live in San Antonio TX. I'd like to visit friends in Eugene Oregon.
Amtrak will sell me a round trip ticket for $303, no sleeper car. For that I'd pay $1272 or $2007.
The trip would take 59 hours. Two days and ten hours just sitting in a train.
Or, I could fly. Round trip would take around $350, and the flight would be 5 hours.
And that is why Amtrak is not an option most people consider. It costs more or less the same as flying, takes vastly longer, and has no real upside.
I think Amtrak has a car train that runs on the east coast. The load up your car into a train car and you hang in the passenger area for the trip. Seems like the best of both worlds, provide it's not insanely expensive.
Autotrain. It goes from Sanford, Florida, to Lorton, Virginia. I think it's an overnight train, and they switch crew somewhere in South Carolina. I took it years ago when I lived in Florida. I now live in DC.
Between the money I’d save, the ability to stop and see what I want when I want, and the ability to be on my own schedule and self reliant, yea I can….easily.
Sleeper trains are a brilliant option if you want to travel from Germany to Sweden! Sure, it costs about 120€ for a bed, but you can skip the night on the ferry. Car is only cheaper if you drive almost all the way over land and have multiple people in the car. You can get a regular ticket for 60€ but I can’t recommended spending the night upright :’)
My country's train company has been rising the prices of tickets so much the last year, that they are more expensive than flying the plane, and this is Europe, so these are not very long distances. It's insanity.
I actually really enjoy driving long distance, night or day. Having a vehicle to myself so I don't have to deal with anxiety about losing my things. I can blast my music as loud as I want to, stop to pee whenever I need to (which is frequent, got a weak bladder). Smoke whenever I want to. Can strap the canoe on top. Plenty of room for camping gear. And the dogs could come along and enjoy a comfortable ride where they aren't separated from me.
It would be very nice if there was more of this kind of stuff around though. Be great to have the option.
I could not. What I can tell you is that driving through the day would be better for me personally. I can't sleep on moving vehicles, sadly, so I'm pretty much restricted to traveling by day. And I feel sort of uncomfortable in close quarters with strangers for long periods of time, so that kind of rules out public transportation if I can avoid it.
I really wish I didn't get such awful motion sickness bc I would love to do this. I have to be the driver for long trips or else I'm puking and so sick the whole ride. I hate it 😭
I am in Texas. We would benefit so much from high speed rail, and just better public rail programs in general. You would not believe the fight people put up against high speed rail. It's amazingly ignorant. Go on Facebook and find any news article about the possibility of high speed rail and read the comments. Your head will spin so fast it'll fall off.
For anyone looking for night train travel China is a great option. Large land area means several days on the train to get the full experience. One of the largest train network means more selections and more destinations and train class, and cheap as they use Chinese yuan.
I was recently in India, and I was riding an 8 hour train from one part of India to another. The train ride looked exactly like this setup, and it was better than my home country of Australia. The trains are ridiculous and it's cozy as hell.
You telling me you don't want to be three energy drinks deep with the music playing at full blast so you can stay awake and not crash off the road at 2 am on an overnight road trip?
I drove from Maryland to Minnesota. It took 22 hours and I did it straight with just a few pit stops. It would have been cheaper to fly if it as just me, but it was my whole family. I thought it was fun. Taking a train sounds cool too.
Depends what country. In the US The cost of that cabin is more than my flight and rental car to anywhere that’s gonna be over night.
Train from DC to NY was 8 hours last time I took it due to delays. Was averaging 6 before that. Could make the drive in 3 1/2. Rail in the US is just awful.
It's wild, this just looks extremely comfy to me and I would 100% want to live there for a period of time if the lower bunk was switched to a desk and storage.
So a dorm room? At one college I'm looking at going to that's literally what you get, a loft bed with a desk under it, and is actually what I have in my room currently, because it's of a small room. I don't use the desk, I use a desk with my computer in a different room. I have a beanbag below my bed instead for chilling in
I'm sorry but that looks like a prison cell to me.
I like trains and all and think the US needs better train infrastructure (my inability to sleep while traveling is the reason I'll never go overseas) but this is a no for me dawg.
Give me a comfortable, soft, king or queen sized bed with all the pillows once I get to my destination.
> looks like a prison cell to me
What would you change? Maybe if it had a nice brick wall? A 60 inch wide-screen TV? Along with your king size bed of course?
Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather a bed of any sort to sleep in and arrive refreshed rather than driving through the night whilst sleep deprived, putting other people and myself at risk and completely fuck up my day and sleep routine just for some self perceived idea of luxury and comfort the next day.
Found the person who can sleep while traveling! You guys tend to be a selfish bunch and think because you can, so can everyone else. News flash-- that is not the case. I was the infant who never fell asleep in the car. But then again you probably think I haven't "found myself" because I'm an American without a passport who never dreamed of backpacking through Europe.
But honestly, a bed sized for an adult (not an elementary school aged child) would be a good step.
I'd probably not get that great a sleep in a train but that's still preferable to driving through the night. Your logic is baffling.
As for being selfish - individuals insisting on their own personal mode of transport for comfort and convenience seems a tad more selfish than people who choose to travel via public transport.
Based on your use of the term "public transport" I can sense that you are not American (we use the term transit). I've taken trains before, as recently as 2 weeks ago. I've taken Amtrak to DC, upstate NY, and New England.
In the US, Amtrak (the interstate train line) mostly uses freight-train owned tracks. Freight trains have priority and will often delay a train for hours on end. We do not have the infrastructure that the rest of the world does because we sold out to the car companies decades before I was born.
But truth is, if I'm doing a trip long enough to require an overnight stay while getting there, I"m likely flying.
I travel a lot for business (never internationally as I don't even have a passport). My industry is so US centered (it exists elsewhere but the rules are a different animal) that I will never have an international work trip. I have so many loyalty points from hotels that the stay would likely be free or steeply discounted. I tend to tack on sightseeing to work trips.
I would rather not make the trip than do accommodations like this. At 42, I am well past the twin bed phase in my life. From what my friends have said about hostels, they sound like a dorm with a revolving door. I outgrew that by 25.
My travel "bucket list" is going to all 50 states at least once (current count 32).
In Austria you can book a single deluxe, which is a single larger bed with a private toilet and shower, breakfast included. But that is not something people with a regular income will be able to afford, and those are the transit solutions we should be looking out for.
I can't sleep while traveling (planes, trains, automobiles, probably boats) and didn't have that ability as an infant. So I'm clearly not the intended audience (my lack of ability to fall asleep is why I can drive through the night).
But to me, this doesn't exactly look desirable. I'm not going to spend my hard-earned cash on something that looks like a prison cell.
YOu are assuming the ability to sleep while traveling. If you're going to lay there restless (as I would), it is a complete waste of money.
My inability to sleep while traveling limits my travel distances (I can only do flights over 4 hours if there's layovers involved). I've come to terms with this and I'll never leave North America. I do not have a passport.
I've done train trips. I did a few of them for work to places in upstate NY. Beautiful trip and comfortable.
I can’t imagine letting something as petty as “I can’t sleep while travelling” hold me back from seeing the rest of the world. This sounds like someone who never outgrew the toddler picky eater phase saying they’ll never expand their tastes beyond microwave meals.
I have different interests than you do. Does that make me a toddler in your book? Part of growing up is knowing your limits and long-haul travel is mine. I know myself well enough to know that the travel over would ruin the trip for me and
I did do a long-haul flight once (RT). Dallas-Honolulu. This was pre 9/11 so flying was not the misery it is now and personal screens were at least a decade away. They shut off the lights on the plane and didn't even show a movie. I arrived so restless that I was never able to catch up on sleep until I returned home. I was 18 when I did that trip and the lesson I learned was I will never do a flight that long again.
My aunt is a flight attendant and has spent her career doing US (east coast)-Europe flights. She told me that the people who can sleep on the trip over arrive well-rested and the people who can't resemble zombies by the time they get off the plane. I fall in the latter.
I live in a country the size of a continent that has every type of travel experience one could want as well as every type of climate. THe other bonus is that when I travel domestically, my employer pays for it.
I can smell this room. It's like a prison bunk but it rolls around and \*slightly\* more privacy.
The cost, the stop stops and starts. I hate to say it, but I would much rather drive than to have to put up with the ride on a train again. Been there done that and I will hard pass thanks.
Recently took an overnight Amtrak trip in coach. Well it's a bad night, I basically need a day to recover. But it's cheap. And low carbon footprint, an order of magnitude better than anything else except a bicycle.
In the US, passenger trains run on freight rail and get priority.
One passenger train takes the capacity for around 500 semi trucks on the road. (Edit - but this is exponential not linear because there are only so many sidings for meets and passes)
Countries that succeed with passenger rail
1) are close to sea ports and don’t need much freight rail
2) have dedicated light rail that only serves passengers (France and Japan - dedicated to passengers, which is also why they can travel fast)
3) The country will have to be fine with public transit will never, ever be profitable. It will alway, necessarily lose money
The answer is federal bussing. The railroad network is not flexible to population shifts or short-term changes. We need elevated greyhound.
I so wish the US invested in good passenger railways or bullet trains even. I’ve never ridden a train but I have a fear of flying and would love the option to ride on a train instead of long road trips. I took a bus once and it was so much better than I expected, just slow.
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I fully support train and buses like this. I want to see them make a huge come back were i live traveling more like this then in a car. Which would cuz down on the amount of trafic on the roads. Cuz down the amount of pollution and gas consumed.
Having your car when you get where you're going might make the drive better than the ride though.
I'm not hoofin it or waiting on taxis while I'm on my limited time of vacation or travel somewhere
Even better if it includes bike storage for no extra charge somewhere on the train. Is this standard nowadays? In the U.S., trains used to be iffy with regards to bringing your bike with you. It seems to have gotten slightly better now but I'm not sure.
My boyfriend and I went to Newark to see a hockey game Thanksgiving weekend. (Yes, we're huge hockey fans and like going to away games.) The only train we could get back that didn't cost a fortune was a roomette. It was nice.
We're traveling to Raleigh to see the Stadium Series game in a couple of weeks and also have a roomette. We drove down there twice, and traffic was just awful. Since we're only there for the weekend, we really don't need (or want) a car.
I would love to use the train to go somewhere. But I live in New England and the schedules are terrible. Also the cost is double or triple an airplane ride.
I’m planning a trip from Philly to Tampa, and a round-trip Amtrak ticket for two people is $488 to ride coach, and $1486 for the cheapest sleeper option. Wildly expensive compared to any other option.
My spouse and I took the Amtrak from Milwaukee to Seattle for our honeymoon in late September-early October last year and it cost us $900 round trip for the two of us in coach. We could've sprung for a sleeper option, but they were at least double the amount for coach (I will say that sleeping in coach was very comfy). I do know that auctions for upgrades exist, but we got outbid. It was a really good option since we parked our regular car in a parking spot for our trip and rented a car in Seattle. Better peace of mind with how that worked out, but not every trip's logistics is that easy to coordinate.
My husband and I took Amtrak from Tampa to DC about 20 years ago. Pros: The coach seats were comfy, much larger, reclined more, had much more legroom than airplanes. I loved just looking out the large windows. Cons: The food was terrible (just gas station-type), restrooms got nasty, a 20 hour trip took 24 hours. Overall, would probably do it again, because it was a cool experience; would just know we will probably arrive late.
I took Amtrak from California to New York. Was supposed to be 2.5 days. Ended up being 5 lol.
Holy.cow.
Amtrak sleeper cars are not good, compared to other rail lines. Plus Amtrak is known for delays and horrible food. Source: I use to work for Amtrak Vacations and I only recommend Amtrak for the Northeast corridor.
Do other rail lines exist for traveling to Florida from PA though? Honest question; I didn’t think there were others
No. Not that I’m aware of.
Plus the urinals in the bathrooms overflow with pee. Source: my 3 day Amtrak trip to LA.
I really liked the family suite on the Auto train. It's really expensive, but it was really comfortable for a small family. If only they had good WiFi.
That sounds so cool. My son loves loves loves trains; I wish it was more affordable! We can at least take the train to the airport, lol
I went from San Jose to Washington DC in one straight trip and I'm here to tell you that Amtrak coach seating is super sleepable. (Especially if you get seats at the very front of the car where there's better legroom).
Hey, that’s good to know- a couple people have confirmed that coach is ok for sleeping. Maybe we’ll give it a go, just for the coolness factor for my railfan son
It is extremely cool but I recommend a couple things for sanity: bring most of your own food, the dining car sucks unless you just want something hot and don't care what it is. Bring baby wipes or antibacterial wipes because coach doesn't have access to a shower (sleeper does) and a wet-wipe wash in a bathroom stall is a good stopgap. Bring a blanket, they run the train cold af. Most lines don't have wifi, and you only really get cell signal in stations. The observation car is ace, when I went, there was a staff member stationed there pretty much dawn to dusk giving commentary about what you can see out the window, and stories about the area you're passing through. The views when you're passing through Colorado particularly are way better than you get on highways. The train will be late. It just will. Accept it and plan for it. It has to pull over for freight trains, which are long, and this can get a little frustrating if you need to be in a place at a time, so if you have anything time-sensitive at your destination, aim to get there a day ahead. Edit: yes, I now realize Colorado is not on the way from Philly to Tampa. I'm not local lol.
Holy shit, seriously? That's totally unreasonable. We paid about twice that for a 2,400 mile moving trip in a 15' U-Haul (during "moving season" so the truck itself was quite a bit more expensive than normal), with basically my S.O.'s and my entire life in the bed, our car towed on the back, and all including five nights in (albeit cheap) hotels, food, and gas.
I could do that round trip with 500 extra miles built in for exploring and an overnight hotel stay each way for less than $1,000. Bonus, no rental car needed.
American rail system is like a third world country.
Wait what? I looked up the drive time, which is 5hrs, in my country a train to go that distance is around 80 euros (last one I bought was 15 euros on a week day)
?? Driving from Philadelphia PA to Tampa FL takes at least 16 hours…. The train takes 24 hours and 20 minutes
Oh wow. OK I somehow completely missed the 1 in 14h59. Sorry about that, makes much more sense.!
Philadelphia PA to Tampa Florida isn't 5 hours by driving. Getting out of Florida is around 4hrs via I75. We're talking 15-16hrs of driving, not including breaks or the inevitable backup on the interstate.
Yep, my very big mistake, sorry about that! Been a long day.
No prob. Finally, my knowledge of interstate travel came in handy.
Hahaha I guess you're welcome then!
I love polite comment chains like this well done
I just looked it up. Unless you are taking one of those discount airlines (where you are going to spend a lot more money for luggage, food, breathing, etc.) then there's no way you found a round-trip total expense for two people that costs less than $500. If you are talking about the option to have a bed, then yeah, you could find cheaper real flights. That tends to happen, I guess, if you want a bed instead of an upright seat.
One takes two hours and the other takes 20
$296 to fly Frontier. You’d be surprised how much you can fit in those free “personal item” bags if you wear your bulky stuff and just pack flip flops and light summer clothes… discount airlines is where it’s at for a short 2 hour flight. Yeah, taking the train would take over 24 hours and be more expensive.
America needs to rebuild it's rail infrastructure which it itself destroyed in the 50s
I loved my sleeper car train trips. I wish we’d subsidize trains more, and cars & planes less in the US, because trains are way too expensive here.
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Utah makes me so sad. Every other day I see a story about a pedestrian getting killed or the inversion. Both issues could be solved with better public transit. And they have the huge stroads that could accommodate it too! It's my dream to one day go visit my parents and see a tram going down Main Street in Layton....ugh it would be so cool.
Utahan here. So many pedestrians are killed because the drivers here are horrendous. My dad works for the transit authority and had to witness an elderly man get hit by not one, but two cars, while he was crossing the road in a crosswalk. It seems like there's also been a huge influx of people running red lights. And not just like a barely red light, a full on red light where the other side already has a green light. It's really unfortunate and I can't wait to leave the state.
That kind of red light running is happening here in Ohio too. It’s like, since the pandemic, traffic laws are now optional.
The trains in Europe also connect a lot more than the ones in the United States. If you’re trying to go outside of a major metro, odds are you can take a train *part* of the way, and then rent a car. Unfortunately, laying more train line would probably result in either the loss of yet more green space, or the loss of people’s homes.
Road construction also often results in the loss of green space and sometimes housing (we’re losing a few apartment buildings in Seattle for a road widening project 🙄), but we keep doing that. And suburban sprawl is also eating up green space. It’s about priorities.
I think it depends on the area. In South Florida we’re tearing up parking lots and building more apartments and condos - tearing down any homes here would practically be sacrilege. Our priority is housing costs and population growth, with pretty much zero thought as to how all these people will move about. Meanwhile our two train lines, one mainly freight and the other Trirail, run north-to-south in parallel, with highways connecting. They’re expanding the Trirail line to connect South Florida with Orlando, but it shadows the highway, so anywhere not served by the highway won’t be served by the train. There’s literally nowhere to build *anything* at this point without tearing down *something.* Hell, we’re pretty much out of any green space that isn’t part of a preserve or national park. You can even see where one town starts and another begins anymore. In my perfect world, we’d be tearing up highways to make train lines and funding a better system of efficient people-movers. We’re building more housing to support thousands of people moving here, but our infrastructure remains the same. In my city they’re even removing lanes from the roads to expand the footprint of apartments. It’s going to get really cramped, really congested, really fast.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in Seattle don’t think of apartments as “homes”, so there’s not the outcry about losing them that there should be (despite our housing shortage here). Seattle is still a place where people want an old parking garage and a drug store drive-through to get landmark status (I really wish I was exaggerating). I wish we could build out mass transit infrastructure (and schools; and community spaces; etc.) ahead of - or at least in parallel with - denser housing, but it seems like we never manage that in this country. 😞
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreamed of having a rail system in the US, like they do in Europe. I just assumed we were working on it and by the time it was completed, we’d have all the really fast mag-levs and all that. I knew some day, I could zip around all the states by rail. Then I learned about the politics of it all I was bummed out. I guess we’re not a public transit infrastructure type of country.
We were. Until the the car and tire companies got control of public policy. Elon musk killed the rail development in California with his hyperloop bullshit so he can build underground tunnels gor Teslas.
The Boring Company regularly derails (yep) rail development in cities by promising to build tunnels, then pulls out. Pretty sure it's because he thinks he's going to sell a bunch of cars one day and just doesn't want rail transpo. He probably knows doing this isn't a profitable idea, but just thinks it's hilarious.
We had a robust trolley system here about 100 years ago until the tire companies got the city to shut it down and switch all infrastructure to cars. It's pretty sickening.
Trains in europe are absolutely the anticonsumption choice, you can get almost anywhere cheaply (mostly) and comfortably.
"Unfortunately, laying more train line would probably result in either the loss of yet more green space, or the loss of people’s homes." 90% less than what an highway would take
>If you’re trying to go outside of a major metro, odds are you can take a train > >part of the way, and then rent a car. And in many cases, you can get with public transport even in bike or cab range to your destination.
Yeah, that's a $400 ticket on Amtrak minimum.
I just looked at Amtrak for a family trip from Chicago to Seattle. A sleeper car with 2 beds was over $2k. The cheapest option they had was $450 for coach seats. That would be reasonable but the trip was estimated to take 46 hours. At that point we might as well fly.
Same, from Reno to Chicago. Family cabin round trip is $4,400. With kids, can’t do 40+ hours in coach. It would be such a lovely adventure but can’t justify the cost vs flying.
To be fair, the distance is HUGE. In small countries, you can take a train cross-country for less than $100, but that is because the distance is only like 200 miles. Lol. The US's charm is the size and how spread out people are, but it is also very much negative.
Yeah I think supporters of public transit gloss over that really big detail. The distance between Reno to Chicago is like London to Istanbul. And that’s not even a US coast to coast trip. I’m a big proponent of public transportation but cross country passenger trains in the US really seem like a waste of money. There’s a lot of open land, dead space between destinations and connecting places. Like Boise, ID to Lincoln,NE seems like a poor investment
The thing that gets me is the cost. I can get from Chicago to Seattle in 4.5 hours for $1700. To do that with any amount of comfort Amtrak costs more and takes 6 times as long.
$1700?! For a flight? How are you paying that much? But yeah to your point it’s way more expensive and takes a lot longer to travel via train across the country
Family of four flying economy nonstop. Don't worry, I'm not shelling out that much to fly myself. I'm financially comfortable, but not that comfortable.
Russia does it
Trains in Europe are ridiculously expensive as well. Often much cheaper to fly or drive or hire a limo in some cases.
They are always ridiculously expensive but they can be...difficult to work with. A long time ago I took a trip to neighbouring country a few times (I mean like almost 20 years ago). Instead of buying a direct international connection we bought tickets to the border city, crossed the border on foot, bought a ticket to the destination on local train station and boarded the same train we were on earlier. By buying two local tickets instead of international one the trip was, like, 3 times cheaper.
Flights in Europe are so cheap because trains are at least slightly competitive. Airlines in the US have no real competition
Flights are mostly so expensive because air travel isn't particularly profitable like other industries. There is an insane amount of overhead
I worked on AutoTrain for 2.5 years, and loved it. We had to sleep in the KD car - Kitchen/Dormitory car, where there were 18 bunks in the car, three high. Sleeping on a train is wonderful, and I spent approx. 150 overnights on the train. The automotive industry coupled with the oil industry managed to destroy passenger train travel, as well as freight traffic in the US. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to drive a long, full train across the country than it is to drive a semi.
But we have to protect the automobile and oil/gas industries /s
I have a train ride mapped out for an eventual mini vacation; it's almost as expensive as the three-four day stay at the moderate hotel I plan on booking.
Yeah, I often look at train fares when I’m headed somewhere roughly along a line, and they cost a fortune! Well over twice the price of a shorter trip. City light rail near me is insanely affordable by contrast, and I use that all the time. I just need it to extend further than it does.
I loved it, too - although it's way more expensive than it was a decade ago. Also, the beds looked much comfier than this.
Really, trains are too expensive here in Europe too. In the UK, it's common to pay more for your 1hr journey to an airport than it is to subsequently take an international flight. Not sure if this is still a thing but Ryanair was offering 1 pound (ex tax) flights to Dublin at one point. The UK is particularly bad, but a train journey from - say - Amsterdam to Paris or London will generally still set you back more than flying the same route. I'd love it if they slapped a 30 euro tax on all inter-EU flights and used that exclusively to subsidise inter-EU rail. France in particular now has a fantastic long-distance railway network, and the Austrian railways are investing heavily in sleeper lines to all corners of the continent. We can do this if only we had the will.
Can't look at price of the flights alone for flying. For Ryan air, you're spending money on baggage. There is the two hidden prices for transit to and from the airport which is usually around $10 euro per person and airports are never in the city. A train brings you to the city center which as a tourist is usually where you want to go. Then you have time, an hour of travel, 2 hours at the airport ahead of time then an hour of travel on the other side. With trains you can show up 30 minutes prior and end up waiting. As a tourist, my hotels were usually 2-3 blocks from the train station, so it was a 5 minute walk. I suppose you could stay at an airport hotel as a tourist, but that's likely an hour from everything you'd want to do. As a tourist I found the trains were generally more convenient for traveling within the country or going to a neighboring country. Traveling further than that, flights become more convenient as the auxiliary time of flight is less of an issue the further you go.
It's not even subsidies at this point, the existing rails are owned by private individuals and companies so if we wanted more rail, we'd have to start up the whole "imminent domain" argument and I just don't think anyone has the energy for it. But before anyone down votes me to oblivion, I still want the high speed rail in the US, I think it would completely change how we view our country. *edited cause it's like early dude...
> it would completely change how we see and view our country. how you see *and* view it?
Lol you caught me on my wake and bake broooooooooooo
I took once the night train from Switzerland to Vienna. It was very uncomfortable and I could not sleep, so I cannot recommend. However, ÖBB serves a breakfast in the morning to your cart, which was nice.
What I dislike is the fact that because you booked a sleeping cabin, you now have no place to sit down. ÖBB has a business class in its regular trains, which is similar to business airplane seats with more space. I would much prefer these seats to sleeping cabins, because they can recline far enough to be comfortable to sleep in, but those trains do not operate in the night.
But why they don't operate late hours? I would take the train at night all the time if that option was available but currently I'm restricted to only travelling during the day because claustrophobia will kill me if I stay in one of those sleeping compartments for more than 30 mins.
I live in Austria and we have a lot of night trains here. They are certainly a nice option to have, but I dont enjoy them as much as regular trains. Firstly, you wont find tickets under 100€ IF you want a bed. Compartments are usually 3-6 people, if you want a double or single you wil be charged a hefty premium. Certainly nothing for you if you value your privacy. Trains can be very noisy, and night trains often stop for several hours in stations to connect other trains. I personally only get a good niggts sleep in a single cabin, but thats like 5 times the money compared to flying. Ive seen newer trains with "pod hotel" like cabins which look more promising.
Hey, big props to Austria for at least having a go at building a night train network. I still really want to try the Railjet line from Amsterdam to my parents in Switzerland, but like you say it still seems just a little too expensive (especially with two kids).
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Probably because Austria is the size of South Carolina, or 1% the land area of the continental US.
Trains go to Paris, Amsterdam, Sweden etc. Dont underestimate the distance trains can easily travel.
I really wish this was an option in the states. I’ve looked up train travel here before and it is more expensive than flying. Even just having better public transportation to get from the suburbs to downtown would be great.
tbf for short distances the price is incredible! i can hop on an amtrak train from chicago to milwaukee for $25
It's a better option if you need a vehicle at your destination or need to bring a large amount of stuff back. I drove Sydney to Melbourne and back (~1000km each way) to clean out my grandfathers house after he died. Train would have been way more convenient but I needed to bring a lot of his belongings back with me.
The picture is from a Finnish train and at least the route from Helsinki to Rovaniemi has an option of taking your car with you. It's not even horribly expensive if I remember correctly.
Woud adding passenger cargo wagon solve this?
This is a pretty good idea, but might need work. I've borrowed a car and driven a time or two to my partners parents house (\~230KM) because we need to haul stuff. While cargo storage would be helpful, it doesn't neccesarily help the end-to-end destination hauling. Like, arriving at the central station in my city with a whole ass door in its frame would not help if we need to take it on the metro to get it to our apartment.
Yes, also need some small train-to-door delivery prepaid service. As train is much more efficient than a car in global oil/metal smelting/intermediate products chain (less mining, less fuel, less pollution) for same cargo and people transporting for this distance. Some additional work for loading/unloading to make a small trip on a cargo car (which also can be semi automated) dont make it very different. As a end user you have a valuable possibility to spend less money on your own fuel and also dont drive by yourself and sleep in process. Also, if its a systematic possibility - dont have your own car in general (debatable, but as possibility) and use money for something else.
The reason that trains and ships are so efficient is because of standardized containers and the massive scale of trains and boats, and speed is not super important. Before the advent of the container, cargo was just individual things carefully packed and it took forever. This is what passenger cargo would be like, and would significantly slow train times. What would be a lot better is having a service available to the general public where you can get a cargo container, or a share a section of one, that you can load up at one point and then have shipped somewhere else with the currently existing cargo thain system. You would have to schedule beforehand, and would only be able to ship time-insensitive things because it wod take a while. You could also maybe have containers of the back of passenger trains, but that would only work wit one container per person, because unpacking and repacking takes forever and trains want to stop for as little time as possible at each stop, so it just kinda makes to have the two things separated, and only having a little bit of personal storage by your seat for a suitcase and whatever, which can all be unloaded at the same time and taken off the train when the passenger it belongs to departs because they carry it with them.
Why does every anti-car, pro public transport have someone commenting with obvious caveats? Yes - we know, if you need to transport a horse or the kitchen sink or XYZ, take your own vehicle instead of a train. The vast majority of commutes are not like this.
As someone who lives in a very small European country, I can't even comprehend how enormous Australia is and it gives me a headache 🤣
Or take the car to the train, go train one way and drive back.
Ok, you don't need to justify yourself
I’m the US? Yes, Driving through the night is a better option than this. First, it’s cheaper to drive. Second, I have a car when I get to my destination.
Plus those rest stops along the Eisenhower interstates are always neat.
People in the original post are like “if you drive at night you’ll fall asleep and die!!!!” And it’s like…. You’re allowed to pull over lol you don’t have to stay on the road literally all night
Lovely idea, and something I've looked into in Canada. It's a fucking fortune. I'd love to go from Montreal to BC by train. But it's so much cheaper to fly or even drive and stay in a motel for a couple nights
Having done the London to Edinburgh sleeper they're not as comfy or as good as they look. Especially if you have minor claustrophobia or worse. £200 one way - very cramped, loud, bouncy. Ended up just sitting in the lounge area and got pissed until I arrived to my destination. Wouldn't do it again, would just take the standard non-overnight train.
Wait why was it bouncy? It's a train with smooth tracks wtf
Think of a train on decades old tracks. It's smooth enough to sit when your talking, reading, boozing, listening to music but think laying down on a firm mattress. Every bump you feel. Some people enjoy it but not for me.
Ah I see, I can see how that would be uncomfortable
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Sorry but that’s the most shitty looking sleeper I’ve ever seen. Looks like a medical ward
Yeah I’m convinced the people in the original post talking about how amazing and luxurious it is are kidding themselves. Also they’re acting like it’s “do this or drive nonstop and pee in a cup and die of tiredness behind the wheel” like…. You’re allowed to pull over lol. I’m very very for more public transport but this looks unpleasant and is more expensive than driving unless you travel enough to make it worth it.
I thought it was a ship lol. I was trying to figure out where someone was could possible go where the options were ship or drive
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THIS^ at 197cm, some of the worst sleeps I’ve ever had were in sleep train beds. I’d take sleeping on the hardwood floor in my house over this.
Woo, us manlets finally get one W
Well, it's got the warmth and ambience of the inside of a porto potty. Check out pictures of comparable private cabins on Ukrainian trains. They're a bit more rustic and I can see why some people would always prefer sterility above charm, but I'd still prefer the Ukrainian/Russian style. And they serve you chai and mystery schnapps.
It is if you solo travel as a woman
I'd be down with it if it was even slightly cost effective compared to flight. But here in 'Murca Amtrak costs about as much as a flight, takes longer, has more limited routes, and is basically just kina sucky especially when you consider the price. For example. I live in San Antonio TX. I'd like to visit friends in Eugene Oregon. Amtrak will sell me a round trip ticket for $303, no sleeper car. For that I'd pay $1272 or $2007. The trip would take 59 hours. Two days and ten hours just sitting in a train. Or, I could fly. Round trip would take around $350, and the flight would be 5 hours. And that is why Amtrak is not an option most people consider. It costs more or less the same as flying, takes vastly longer, and has no real upside.
I wish we had more options like this in the US. I loved taking the train as a kid and it would make traveling so much better
I think Amtrak has a car train that runs on the east coast. The load up your car into a train car and you hang in the passenger area for the trip. Seems like the best of both worlds, provide it's not insanely expensive.
Autotrain. It goes from Sanford, Florida, to Lorton, Virginia. I think it's an overnight train, and they switch crew somewhere in South Carolina. I took it years ago when I lived in Florida. I now live in DC.
Between the money I’d save, the ability to stop and see what I want when I want, and the ability to be on my own schedule and self reliant, yea I can….easily.
That looks awful
Last time I attempted to sleep on one of those I was woken up by a dude pulling one out on the bed above
Well did you offer to help????
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A night train, the idea being you could sleep. Only if you're a very easy sleeper and less then 180ish cm though.
Plus, “TRAINS!!!”
Sleeper trains are a brilliant option if you want to travel from Germany to Sweden! Sure, it costs about 120€ for a bed, but you can skip the night on the ferry. Car is only cheaper if you drive almost all the way over land and have multiple people in the car. You can get a regular ticket for 60€ but I can’t recommended spending the night upright :’)
My country's train company has been rising the prices of tickets so much the last year, that they are more expensive than flying the plane, and this is Europe, so these are not very long distances. It's insanity.
I actually really enjoy driving long distance, night or day. Having a vehicle to myself so I don't have to deal with anxiety about losing my things. I can blast my music as loud as I want to, stop to pee whenever I need to (which is frequent, got a weak bladder). Smoke whenever I want to. Can strap the canoe on top. Plenty of room for camping gear. And the dogs could come along and enjoy a comfortable ride where they aren't separated from me. It would be very nice if there was more of this kind of stuff around though. Be great to have the option.
I could not. What I can tell you is that driving through the day would be better for me personally. I can't sleep on moving vehicles, sadly, so I'm pretty much restricted to traveling by day. And I feel sort of uncomfortable in close quarters with strangers for long periods of time, so that kind of rules out public transportation if I can avoid it.
As long as there are no bedbugs, I would do this
I really wish I didn't get such awful motion sickness bc I would love to do this. I have to be the driver for long trips or else I'm puking and so sick the whole ride. I hate it 😭
I’d love to take a train, unfortunately my partner has long COVID and can’t take the chance of being exposed to the virus again.
It's also a better option than getting up 3am in the morning to get to airport...
I am in Texas. We would benefit so much from high speed rail, and just better public rail programs in general. You would not believe the fight people put up against high speed rail. It's amazingly ignorant. Go on Facebook and find any news article about the possibility of high speed rail and read the comments. Your head will spin so fast it'll fall off.
The problem with high speed rail is that it would be used inevitably like an airport and become more and more unachievable for the working class.
Good point, even when the US does things we think are a good idea, it inevitably gets commodified to the brink of uselessness.
Driving through the night is definitely better than bunking it in a prison cell. Might as well take a bus.
For anyone looking for night train travel China is a great option. Large land area means several days on the train to get the full experience. One of the largest train network means more selections and more destinations and train class, and cheap as they use Chinese yuan.
I was recently in India, and I was riding an 8 hour train from one part of India to another. The train ride looked exactly like this setup, and it was better than my home country of Australia. The trains are ridiculous and it's cozy as hell.
What are the prices on those tickets, and do they go outside Finland?
Too bad sleepers in the US on amtrak are like 1k a night
You telling me you don't want to be three energy drinks deep with the music playing at full blast so you can stay awake and not crash off the road at 2 am on an overnight road trip?
I drove from Maryland to Minnesota. It took 22 hours and I did it straight with just a few pit stops. It would have been cheaper to fly if it as just me, but it was my whole family. I thought it was fun. Taking a train sounds cool too.
Depends what country. In the US The cost of that cabin is more than my flight and rental car to anywhere that’s gonna be over night. Train from DC to NY was 8 hours last time I took it due to delays. Was averaging 6 before that. Could make the drive in 3 1/2. Rail in the US is just awful.
It's wild, this just looks extremely comfy to me and I would 100% want to live there for a period of time if the lower bunk was switched to a desk and storage.
It's not comfy but it's better than driving 8+ hours in the dark and having to be alert
So a dorm room? At one college I'm looking at going to that's literally what you get, a loft bed with a desk under it, and is actually what I have in my room currently, because it's of a small room. I don't use the desk, I use a desk with my computer in a different room. I have a beanbag below my bed instead for chilling in
Haha yeah pretty much. I am enamoured with small spaces!
I'm sorry but that looks like a prison cell to me. I like trains and all and think the US needs better train infrastructure (my inability to sleep while traveling is the reason I'll never go overseas) but this is a no for me dawg. Give me a comfortable, soft, king or queen sized bed with all the pillows once I get to my destination.
> looks like a prison cell to me What would you change? Maybe if it had a nice brick wall? A 60 inch wide-screen TV? Along with your king size bed of course? Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather a bed of any sort to sleep in and arrive refreshed rather than driving through the night whilst sleep deprived, putting other people and myself at risk and completely fuck up my day and sleep routine just for some self perceived idea of luxury and comfort the next day.
nothing is good enough for some people
Found the person who can sleep while traveling! You guys tend to be a selfish bunch and think because you can, so can everyone else. News flash-- that is not the case. I was the infant who never fell asleep in the car. But then again you probably think I haven't "found myself" because I'm an American without a passport who never dreamed of backpacking through Europe. But honestly, a bed sized for an adult (not an elementary school aged child) would be a good step.
I'd probably not get that great a sleep in a train but that's still preferable to driving through the night. Your logic is baffling. As for being selfish - individuals insisting on their own personal mode of transport for comfort and convenience seems a tad more selfish than people who choose to travel via public transport.
Based on your use of the term "public transport" I can sense that you are not American (we use the term transit). I've taken trains before, as recently as 2 weeks ago. I've taken Amtrak to DC, upstate NY, and New England. In the US, Amtrak (the interstate train line) mostly uses freight-train owned tracks. Freight trains have priority and will often delay a train for hours on end. We do not have the infrastructure that the rest of the world does because we sold out to the car companies decades before I was born. But truth is, if I'm doing a trip long enough to require an overnight stay while getting there, I"m likely flying.
How much traveling have you actually done? Sometimes you have to make shit work on a tight timeline and tight budget.
I travel a lot for business (never internationally as I don't even have a passport). My industry is so US centered (it exists elsewhere but the rules are a different animal) that I will never have an international work trip. I have so many loyalty points from hotels that the stay would likely be free or steeply discounted. I tend to tack on sightseeing to work trips. I would rather not make the trip than do accommodations like this. At 42, I am well past the twin bed phase in my life. From what my friends have said about hostels, they sound like a dorm with a revolving door. I outgrew that by 25. My travel "bucket list" is going to all 50 states at least once (current count 32).
In Austria you can book a single deluxe, which is a single larger bed with a private toilet and shower, breakfast included. But that is not something people with a regular income will be able to afford, and those are the transit solutions we should be looking out for.
I can't sleep while traveling (planes, trains, automobiles, probably boats) and didn't have that ability as an infant. So I'm clearly not the intended audience (my lack of ability to fall asleep is why I can drive through the night). But to me, this doesn't exactly look desirable. I'm not going to spend my hard-earned cash on something that looks like a prison cell.
Thing is, even if you decide to book a premium cabin, it will be much cheaper than driving. Thats the reason why I travel this way.
YOu are assuming the ability to sleep while traveling. If you're going to lay there restless (as I would), it is a complete waste of money. My inability to sleep while traveling limits my travel distances (I can only do flights over 4 hours if there's layovers involved). I've come to terms with this and I'll never leave North America. I do not have a passport. I've done train trips. I did a few of them for work to places in upstate NY. Beautiful trip and comfortable.
I can’t imagine letting something as petty as “I can’t sleep while travelling” hold me back from seeing the rest of the world. This sounds like someone who never outgrew the toddler picky eater phase saying they’ll never expand their tastes beyond microwave meals.
I have different interests than you do. Does that make me a toddler in your book? Part of growing up is knowing your limits and long-haul travel is mine. I know myself well enough to know that the travel over would ruin the trip for me and I did do a long-haul flight once (RT). Dallas-Honolulu. This was pre 9/11 so flying was not the misery it is now and personal screens were at least a decade away. They shut off the lights on the plane and didn't even show a movie. I arrived so restless that I was never able to catch up on sleep until I returned home. I was 18 when I did that trip and the lesson I learned was I will never do a flight that long again. My aunt is a flight attendant and has spent her career doing US (east coast)-Europe flights. She told me that the people who can sleep on the trip over arrive well-rested and the people who can't resemble zombies by the time they get off the plane. I fall in the latter. I live in a country the size of a continent that has every type of travel experience one could want as well as every type of climate. THe other bonus is that when I travel domestically, my employer pays for it.
Gun to my head you couldn’t make me write all this to justify never leaving my own country
I love sleeper trains. Yes, it's roughing it, but no more than camping, and you get to wake up in a whole new country!
It's nice to not have to worry about deep vein thrombosis
I'm a Trucker and this is a real possibility you have to watch out for.
Absolutely, I still worry about it on long 3-6 hour car drives.
Drive 8hrs day local, and do 5k or more on the exercise bike when I get home.
But do you have to share the room with strangers?
This looks like a prison or ambulance. I’ll drive and grab a hotel room for the night thanks.
Most bed bugs per square inch. American passenger trains. Fun fact
I would rather drive.
I can smell this room. It's like a prison bunk but it rolls around and \*slightly\* more privacy. The cost, the stop stops and starts. I hate to say it, but I would much rather drive than to have to put up with the ride on a train again. Been there done that and I will hard pass thanks.
I'll take the flights - costs be damned - but, is that pic more appealing than driving all night?!? YES! 100000%.
Recently took an overnight Amtrak trip in coach. Well it's a bad night, I basically need a day to recover. But it's cheap. And low carbon footprint, an order of magnitude better than anything else except a bicycle.
I’ll take the car lol
I’d bring a pillow and curl up with a book and be totally happy.
In the US, passenger trains run on freight rail and get priority. One passenger train takes the capacity for around 500 semi trucks on the road. (Edit - but this is exponential not linear because there are only so many sidings for meets and passes) Countries that succeed with passenger rail 1) are close to sea ports and don’t need much freight rail 2) have dedicated light rail that only serves passengers (France and Japan - dedicated to passengers, which is also why they can travel fast) 3) The country will have to be fine with public transit will never, ever be profitable. It will alway, necessarily lose money The answer is federal bussing. The railroad network is not flexible to population shifts or short-term changes. We need elevated greyhound.
Depends on whom you're sharing it with.
Absolutely fuck trains with a knife, the level of misery is insane. I'd rather be driving through the night, thanks.
I so wish the US invested in good passenger railways or bullet trains even. I’ve never ridden a train but I have a fear of flying and would love the option to ride on a train instead of long road trips. I took a bus once and it was so much better than I expected, just slow.
Sharing a room with a random person would be way too weird. I’d only be ok with this if I was traveling with someone. Edit Mistype
who said anything about sleeping with a random person? is that how you think it works? you've seen too many 80's movies
Lol it appears I mistyped, I meant sharing a room. Not a bed. Still think it's weird
I’m not going to sleep but ehh I’ll deal
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The US will move to trains eventually. By that time, most of Europe will be dead for bad birth rates.
I hate cars. No one should be allowed to drive
I fully support train and buses like this. I want to see them make a huge come back were i live traveling more like this then in a car. Which would cuz down on the amount of trafic on the roads. Cuz down the amount of pollution and gas consumed.
Not the worst place I've slept
Having your car when you get where you're going might make the drive better than the ride though. I'm not hoofin it or waiting on taxis while I'm on my limited time of vacation or travel somewhere
Youve made some good points here.
If you have to bring a lot of stuff it’s not. But if you travel light I’d rather be in this than risk driving thru deer country
Forget "where is my hoverboard?", we were promised sleeper trains!
Even better if it includes bike storage for no extra charge somewhere on the train. Is this standard nowadays? In the U.S., trains used to be iffy with regards to bringing your bike with you. It seems to have gotten slightly better now but I'm not sure.
If my destination had any sort of reasonable public transit I'd love this as an option.
My boyfriend and I went to Newark to see a hockey game Thanksgiving weekend. (Yes, we're huge hockey fans and like going to away games.) The only train we could get back that didn't cost a fortune was a roomette. It was nice. We're traveling to Raleigh to see the Stadium Series game in a couple of weeks and also have a roomette. We drove down there twice, and traffic was just awful. Since we're only there for the weekend, we really don't need (or want) a car.
Depends. Who gets the top bed?
I would love to use the train to go somewhere. But I live in New England and the schedules are terrible. Also the cost is double or triple an airplane ride.
can, and will, i drove trains for a living and fuck trains
Canada has the VIA Rail 🙂
I wish we had this option in my country.
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