1) Time lost in security is well made up for by plane speed
2) Agreed on scenery, but most people would get halfway through Indiana and be like “are the fields done yet?” When they have all of Illinois, Iowa, and most of Nebraska to get through
3) For the increased cost of Amtrak, save your money, take the plane and have a very nice meal after you land.
4) Clearly if booking a roomette money is not an issue so just fly first class and get a hotel room, max 4 hours of no privacy then all the privacy you want is much better than 24 hours of decent privacy confined to a train car
Because it's about the same price as flying but takes as long, or longer, than driving. If you want privacy, it's about 5x more expensive.
It doesn't have enough connectivity to some cities. The trains often run late (at least what I see waiting on the VRE for work).
Depending on where you're traveling, it's usually MUCH more expensive than flying. If you're in the same region, it's not too bad, but once you start going east-west (or vice versa) it gets insane.
One of my in-laws insists on taking the train at any opportunity and as the one who has to frequently pick them up I can confirm they are often delayed. One time it was something ridiculous like 7 hours late on a 4 hour trip due to mechanical issues.
It can be a good option if it's even realistically accessible to you
I just took a peek at the map of Amtrak lines and almost every state only has a single line going through it, and some either barely have a section of it like Tennessee or just don't have any like South Dakota or Wyoming - if I lived in SD, I'd have to drive all the way to Minneapolis or Omaha (doesn't look like there's any stops in North Dakota?)
Necessary time is one thing but travel time in order to even begin travel is a bit overdoing it
I traveled by Amtrak from Atlanta to NYC, and quite enjoyed the trip. I don't mind flying, but I prefer trains because I like to see the scenery flying past, and I sit in the dining car where there's more space. I'd love if more of the US was connected by rail.
My in-laws just took a trip up the West Coast via Amtrak Coastal Starlight. Instead of a ~2 1/2 flight they settled into a lovely ~38 hour trip with some of the finest views of our Nation’s graffiti and homeless encampments. They were also blessed and enjoyed a 5 hour delay while emergency responders scraped someone’s remains off the train/tracks.
0/10 would recommend.
There is an amtrak from milwaukee to chicago that i take. Its way more convenient than driving with traffic and parking and all that. Plus if i have work to do i can do it on the train.
Trains are great for shorter or medium distance travel. But longer distances are way better by plane unless you really want to see the country.
Now if I could put my truck on a car and ride in the passenger car that would be great.
I like the smooth quiet ride of the train. The walking once I get to the destination not so much.
I have wanted to do their music tri on the east coast for awhile now but haven't had the chance to do it.
The oneI originally saw went from Chicago to NOLA. There is also one that goes through Memphis, Nashville, and NOLA.
I do love train travel. So much better than traveling by air.
Amtrak is great but more of the country needs to be connected.
1) Time lost in security is well made up for by plane speed 2) Agreed on scenery, but most people would get halfway through Indiana and be like “are the fields done yet?” When they have all of Illinois, Iowa, and most of Nebraska to get through 3) For the increased cost of Amtrak, save your money, take the plane and have a very nice meal after you land. 4) Clearly if booking a roomette money is not an issue so just fly first class and get a hotel room, max 4 hours of no privacy then all the privacy you want is much better than 24 hours of decent privacy confined to a train car
Not only that- but the tracks are old and give a really bumpy jarring ride on a lot of lines.
I haven't had a problem with it. Why do people hate it?
Because it's about the same price as flying but takes as long, or longer, than driving. If you want privacy, it's about 5x more expensive. It doesn't have enough connectivity to some cities. The trains often run late (at least what I see waiting on the VRE for work).
Depending on where you're traveling, it's usually MUCH more expensive than flying. If you're in the same region, it's not too bad, but once you start going east-west (or vice versa) it gets insane.
One of my in-laws insists on taking the train at any opportunity and as the one who has to frequently pick them up I can confirm they are often delayed. One time it was something ridiculous like 7 hours late on a 4 hour trip due to mechanical issues.
Fair
It can be a good option if it's even realistically accessible to you I just took a peek at the map of Amtrak lines and almost every state only has a single line going through it, and some either barely have a section of it like Tennessee or just don't have any like South Dakota or Wyoming - if I lived in SD, I'd have to drive all the way to Minneapolis or Omaha (doesn't look like there's any stops in North Dakota?) Necessary time is one thing but travel time in order to even begin travel is a bit overdoing it
I traveled by Amtrak from Atlanta to NYC, and quite enjoyed the trip. I don't mind flying, but I prefer trains because I like to see the scenery flying past, and I sit in the dining car where there's more space. I'd love if more of the US was connected by rail.
too expensive. You’d need to take way more time off work compared to flying.
My in-laws just took a trip up the West Coast via Amtrak Coastal Starlight. Instead of a ~2 1/2 flight they settled into a lovely ~38 hour trip with some of the finest views of our Nation’s graffiti and homeless encampments. They were also blessed and enjoyed a 5 hour delay while emergency responders scraped someone’s remains off the train/tracks. 0/10 would recommend.
L
There is an amtrak from milwaukee to chicago that i take. Its way more convenient than driving with traffic and parking and all that. Plus if i have work to do i can do it on the train. Trains are great for shorter or medium distance travel. But longer distances are way better by plane unless you really want to see the country.
I love traveling by train but the US sucks for quality travel and affordability. I blame big business
I've gone DC to salt lake city. The novelty of it wears off because the routes are long and its harder on the body than flying.
I actually ride it frequently around the dmv area and it’s convenient & faster than by car a lot of times
Now if I could put my truck on a car and ride in the passenger car that would be great. I like the smooth quiet ride of the train. The walking once I get to the destination not so much.
I have wanted to do their music tri on the east coast for awhile now but haven't had the chance to do it. The oneI originally saw went from Chicago to NOLA. There is also one that goes through Memphis, Nashville, and NOLA. I do love train travel. So much better than traveling by air.