Do you love trains or Amtrak?
Because Amtrak isn't all that great from what I remember, there are far better carriers but maybe not in the US.
Because Amtrak isn't all that great from what I remember, there are far better carriers but maybe not in the US.
Don't get me wrong, I'm also a private pilot and a car guy...I love our train alternatives too and flying and driving are things the US does a better job of. But leaving out trains as a realistic transportation option feels like a weird blind spot.
Small regional trains in general are decent, but they’re no match for planes across any long distance.
I just earlier today was trying to get a Eurail pass for some traveling around europe over the next couple weeks. The minimum you pay is $211 for 4 days of use across a month, but every train worth using has a “seat reservation fee” on top of that. I literally couldn’t find a more expensive way to do that route I had planned.
And that depends on how far you travel, of course:
Fixed overhead for planes is around 2.5 hours (depending on airport, etc.) for parking, travel to terminal, security, time to gate, 'deplaning', time from gate to ride/car. For Amtrak, that's about 40 minutes IME.
Marginal time cost for distance is, of course, far less on a plane.
Don't worry, they're working on remedying that.