PENIS!

Bus is cheaper. Hell, my car is cheaper; as if we have Amtrak in the south.

And I imagine it'll continue to rise. Maybe this country will figure out how to create a decent light rail network someday.

The Amtrak station is half a block from here, and yes, business is picking up tremendously.

As long as you don't need to get there on time.

My wife and kids once took Amtrak from Orlando to New Orleans because they thought it would be fun to take the train. Fortunately, they paid for the berth and a meal plan, because the train was over 12 hours late getting in. This for a trip that you can drive in under 10 hours.

On the return trip, the train was so late that they put everyone off the train before they reached Orlando and bused them the rest of the way because the train had to start going back the other way.

And people wonder why the train is so unpopular in this country.

Whattrack?
Amwhat?
What-what?

Trains can haul more weight more 'fuel efficiently' than any form of transportation we have. Scheduling is somewhat problematic and they don't go everywhere. But trains are a great answer. They'd be even more cost-competitive if the government subsidized rail building the way they subsidize roads and airports.

I'm biased, however. I grew up riding trains - the Rock Island line, the Union Pacific, the Chesapeake and Ohio - and remember how good they used to be. The dining cars alone were worth the ticket. I still use the French Toast recipe as given me by a chef on the California Zephyr. Those days are long gone.

Stay off my lawn.

I take Amtrak between Philly and NYC all the time. Absolutely love it. Of course, my company is willing to pay for the business-class Acela ticket, and the traffic between those two cities is bad enough that Amtrak is always going to be faster than a bus or a car.

Also nice is that you can cancel your reservation and have 100% of the price refunded. Meanwhile, the airlines make sure they keep some or all of your cash even if you reserve a flight four months in advance and cancel it the next day. What's up with that?

My GG Grandfather was run over and killed by the B&O. Back then they didn't stop for anything.
I still love trains.
But not as much as motorcycles.

Cybernetic: As long as you don't need to get there on time.

The problem there is, most of the time, the train is actually on time. But since Amtrak doesn't own any rails in this area, it has to share them with the freight trains and passenger trains will get shoved to the side to let freight trains pass all the time.

Also, too many stations have closed since the 1950s-70s, and too many routes have been retired.

It's nice to see this headline, but I cringe when I have to deal with ANYONE from my Amtrak station. They are unhelpful, grumpy, and not prompt in service. I missed a train back a few years ago when there was no one at the window to process a ticket. That sucked.

McManus_brothers: And I imagine it'll continue to rise. Maybe this country will figure out how to create a decent light rail network someday.

Here is the first clue: Maglev.

Last I heard Amtrak has never in its history made a profit in any single year. Someone verify this for me.

marcand... they are better than Greyhound.

Snakeophelia: I take Amtrak between Philly and NYC all the time.

We've taken Amtrak between NYC and Washington, DC / Baltimore lots of times (not Acela). It's fine. No worse than flying coach.

People complaining about Amtrak being late should check airline stats and see who gets delayed more often.

Kar98
"Also, too many stations have closed since the 1950s-70s, and too many routes have been retired."

True. I took the route from Chicago to L.A. once, which went to Las Vegas (my destination). Unfortunately, that route thru Vegas doesn't exist anymore, now they just throw you on a bus to get there.

But the train ride through the Rockies was a really great experience, and very scenic.

Amtrak rarely owns the tracks it rides on. Most are owned by the freight companies, and consider passenger trains a nuisance. Passenger traffic will always be moved aside for freight trains. Also Amtrak pays for all damages on host rails, even if it was the hosts negligence that caused the damage. When crap like that is done away with, the train stands a chance.

I was in the US a few weeks ago and I thought I'd see how the rail system worked compared to what you'd find in most of Europe. I took the Acela from Newark to Washington DC.

This is supposely a business class train, but the comfort is better on most intercity economy (standard) class services in the UK. Also information boards were not always clear, and the train was 15 minutes late.

Amtrak should upgrade their trains and improve service quality if they want it to be as popular as rail travel is in Europe. I do realize that this requires a massive expenditure, and Amtrak is losing money, so maybe this will never happen.. unfortunately.

Only a matter of time before all those mid-size metropolitan areas seriously begin to regret shelving those rail transit programs.

If they aren't already.

I took an Amtrak from Indiana to Boston. The ride was comfy, although it was winter time and they only seemed to have two heat settings for the compartments. On and off.

Then some little girl threw up ALL OVER the aisle. While the heat was apparently stuck on.

good times. good times.

Accella for the win. Definately easier flying to DC on it, and about a wash to boston.

Err definately easier THAN flying to DC.

I took the Amtrak train last month for the first time in years, and yes it was a little slower than driving (but not much) but it was surprisingly clean and a damm smooth ride. I'd definitely do it again rather than deal with L.A. traffic. Oh and they actually had a place for me to roll my wheelchair into in a normal passenger car. The last train I'd been on was in England and they put me in a baggage car.

I like Amtrak and have ridden it many times on the Boston -- NYC route. Faster and cheaper than flying. (Faster once you factor in getting in and out of airports and security waits.)

Trains need to be rebuilt in this country as do the streetcars that downtown cities used to have.

Basically we need to go back to the public transportation we had before post World War II. Everything was ruined after the Baby Boom.

Amtrak on Northeast Corridor runs like a dream. I use it and MARC (MD commuter rail...same thing as Amtrak but less fancy) every now and then. The seats are built for people who aren't Verne Troyer. The food is okay. Usually the trips run smoothly.

They're still around only because of our tax dollars.
We may as well take the train seeing how we're already paying for it.

Little secret.
for the railheads.
mms://atkon-atkbtvolive-wmv-high.wm.llnwd.net/atkon_atkbtvolive_wmv_high

ameeriklane: [Acela] is supposely a business class train, but the comfort is better on most intercity economy (standard) class services in the UK.

Unless someone else is paying, Acela is not worth the extra $$$. It's almost the same coach class.

Any transportation method that includes a bar has my vote.

Open that with anything that'll play streaming web.

Treetop1000: Open that with anything that'll play streaming web.

You forgot to mention the ability to speak German is necessary.

Trains, light rail lines, street cars... I say zepplins are the wave of the future.

You know who else insisted that trains run on time?

Some of this has already been posted, but if they want a "renaissance" for rails in this country, allow private industry to step in. AMTRAK in the South is a joke, it stops in some random small towns (perhaps in the districts of powerful congressmen at the time of AMTRAK creation?) but the connections between major cities tend to be awkward or non-existant. There is a much larger market for rail travel in the US than would be widely believed, but unless you're in the northeast corridor or a handful of other places, AMTRAK does not connect in ways that make it convenient or economically attractive.

dipdunk:

Agreed. I've got an Amtrak station downtown, but the times are awkward and to get to some big cities you have to go hundreds of miles out of the way.

Eh, my only big beef with Amtrak is that they are chronically late... but given that our country is too cheap to actually buy rail, and instead elects to lease it from freight companies who can force the Amtrak trains to just stop for hours while they move their freight around, I blame people in congress who favor doing things in a half-assed manner on the cheap more than anyone else.

Amtrak on the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor > Amtrak anywhere else in the United States

TMBGfreak: Treetop1000: Open that with anything that'll play streaming web.

You forgot to mention the ability to speak German is necessary.



Didn't find the Google audio translate button?
It's hilarious.

Kidding. There is no Google audio translate button.
Just a thought though, why not?

I'd love to take Amtrak between San Antonio and Dallas, but the 4 1/2 hour car trip is SCHEDULED at over 8 hours on Amtrak. Apparently every time a freight train squeaks in the area, the train has to pull over for an hour.

It's a shame - my only choices are car or plane if I want to get there at a reasonable speed.

Amtrak Wars (read these before I knew it was the name of a company)

ameeriklane:
Amtrak should will upgrade their trains and improve service quality if they want it to be as popular as rail travel is in Europe. when gas gets so expensive that people really start needing to travel by train again

I can actually imagine private cars becoming a largely "in-town only" option sooner than we think. Simply because we'll have no choice. It's already getting really painful just to pay for the gas for a camping trip :(

dipdunk: Some of this has already been posted, but if they want a "renaissance" for rails in this country, allow private industry to step in.

I don't have a clear-and-cut opinion on this yet, but a few points to consider:

On one hand, It was over-regulating and the boom of the passenger car after WW2 that all but killed passenger trains in first place.

But on the other hand, the notoriously most efficient train systems in the world are actually run by government agencies.

And on the other, other hand, railroad systems if run by government agencies don't HAVE to show a profit. They're providing a much needed infrastructure thus /generating/ more taxes from businesses and citizens than they eat up.

Mr. Right: Trains can haul more weight more 'fuel efficiently' than any form of transportation we have.

Actually, ocean barges are the most efficient. Heavy rail is the best for land.

Mr. Right: still use the French Toast recipe as given me by a chef on the California Zephyr.

Any way you could share that? Sounds like something very interesting.

Kar98:
But on the other hand, the notoriously most efficient train systems in the world are actually run by government agencies.

But, but, The Market!

THIS. Think of it this way: if the post office was private, it would cost five times as much to mail a letter from the country as the city, and some towns would have no service at all.

I'm planning on taking Amtrak from Chicago to DC this summer. It's actually cheaper than driving at current gas prices, and I'm sure it will be worse by August.

I took the Amtrak from New York to Atlanta once as an 'experience' while visiting from the UK:

1) Hit debris on track about 2 hours into journey. Train halted with busted brake hoses.
2) Eventually told to get off train and climb aboard another train (we were on a stretch of double line)
3) Finally made it to Washington
4) Delayed at Washington while electrical fault in dining car investigated
5) Delayed at Washington while dining car uncoupled and removed
6) Delayed at Washington while police removed drunk couple (strangers!) who decided to pass the time having sex in a corridor
7) Train stopped about 5 miles outside Atlanta as we hit someone walking to work down the track (he suffered a bad cut to his arm - we saw him being hauled away in an ambulance)

..and we had to tell our hosts beforehand where the station was in Atlanta because they'd never been there.

Well, I got the 'experience'.

I've ridden Amtrak's Crescent line (New Orleans to DC, Philly, NYC and back) a ton of times, and it's always a lot of fun. I miss the smoking car though... thank goodness for the handful of smoke stops on the way.

I wanted to visit some friends in Charleston last summer and thought it would be a fun change to take Amtrak from Atlanta to Charleston. I looked up the times online and I would have had to go all the way to D.C and then down the east coast. Not cool.

All my friends would love to be able to ride the train home from school. Or really anywhere for that matter.