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In the USA, long distance passenger trains are very expensive and can have their schedules totally screwed up because they must give way to freight trains.

JadeNB 10y ago
> In the USA, long distance passenger trains are very expensive … This is mostly true, but: 1. "Frequent traveller" programs can take some of the pain out of the price, just as they can for flying; and, as msandford (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12663241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12663241) points out, it's not entirely unreasonable, if you're optimising for comfort (since it's not for speed!), to compare the price of a coach seat on a train with the price of a business-class seat on a plane. 2. Short-haul trains will usually beat any possible flight; and even relatively long-haul trains can be competitive—an upcoming trip from Michigan to Maryland for my brother's wedding is $81 one way. > … and can have their schedules totally screwed up because they must give way to freight trains. This is also true, but, I think, misleading; it's not as if planes always run on time. At least, when the train is stuck, you're on the train, which is nice and comfy, rather than in the airport, which is miserable! I have also never been bumped from a train due to overbooking, and once had a lovely train ride that simply plowed through snow falling thickly enough that most flights were grounded.
logfromblammo 10y ago
As a point of fact, Amtrak passenger trains have priority over freight trains if they are on schedule. The problem is that if they are so much as a minute late, and have to yield once, they are no longer on schedule for the entire remainder of the route, and just get further and further behind. Amtrak doesn't own much of its own track, and private rail owners tend to prioritize high-value traffic, so the freight generally gets to go first. After all, everybody knows that if you wanted to get there on time, you would have flown, right? I was once delayed on an Amtrak train for 24 hours. Twenty-four hours, sitting motionless on a siding in the middle of nowhere. A professional cyclist could have beaten me to my destination, even with one 8-hour stop to sleep. Never again. Even a coach bus would be preferable.

JadeNB 10y ago

> In the USA, long distance passenger trains are very expensive … This is mostly true, but: 1. "Frequent traveller" programs can take some of the pain out of the price, just as they can for flying; and, as msandford (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12663241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12663241) points out, it's not entirely unreasonable, if you're optimising for comfort (since it's not for speed!), to compare the price of a coach seat on a train with the price of a business-class seat on a plane. 2. Short-haul trains will usually beat any possible flight; and even relatively long-haul trains can be competitive—an upcoming trip from Michigan to Maryland for my brother's wedding is $81 one way. > … and can have their schedules totally screwed up because they must give way to freight trains. This is also true, but, I think, misleading; it's not as if planes always run on time. At least, when the train is stuck, you're on the train, which is nice and comfy, rather than in the airport, which is miserable! I have also never been bumped from a train due to overbooking, and once had a lovely train ride that simply plowed through snow falling thickly enough that most flights were grounded.

logfromblammo 10y ago

As a point of fact, Amtrak passenger trains have priority over freight trains if they are on schedule. The problem is that if they are so much as a minute late, and have to yield once, they are no longer on schedule for the entire remainder of the route, and just get further and further behind. Amtrak doesn't own much of its own track, and private rail owners tend to prioritize high-value traffic, so the freight generally gets to go first. After all, everybody knows that if you wanted to get there on time, you would have flown, right? I was once delayed on an Amtrak train for 24 hours. Twenty-four hours, sitting motionless on a siding in the middle of nowhere. A professional cyclist could have beaten me to my destination, even with one 8-hour stop to sleep. Never again. Even a coach bus would be preferable.