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If you like long distance trains make sure you ride the Amtraks before it's too late.

by gomox 8y ago

koolba 8y ago
Or just go to Europe.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Unless you mean Russia, Europe doesn't have the same kind of long-distance rail service. Remember Europe is geographically very small. And as much as it pains the anti-Americans in the audience, the United States still has the world's largest rail network. Number two is Russia, which is a distant second, followed by China. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_transport_network_size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_tran...
  - Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
    Rail network != passenger rail network, though, which was the point of the top-level comment AIUI. If we look at patronage, US passenger miles in 2017 were 6.53bn. UK passenger miles in just one quarter were 10bn.
    - pjc50 8y ago
      We have a lot more rail commuters jammed into medium distance trains.
    - paleotrope 8y ago
      Well american trains don't go anywhere anyone wants to go to in a reasonable amount of time.
      - ghaff 8y ago
        I can get from Boston to NYC in a reasonable amount of time using the train. Very competitive with air. Not so much on my next trip from Boston to San Francisco.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    There are some long distance services in Europe, although many overnight services have been withdrawn. Amsterdam to Moscow remains, and is probably the longest, although it still can't compete with the USA on distance. I don't know what the scenery is like. The scenic rail journeys I'd recommend to a tourist are all much shorter. I also wouldn't recommend travelling just for the journey, which could be reasonable for crossing the USA (or Russia, China). Travel by train in Europe because you can conveniently visit several cities, avoid tiresome driving, or use the flexibility to hike/cycle/whatever without needing to return to where you started. (PS; I only made a rough calculation, but adding the network lengths of the EU countries on your link comes to around 80% of the USA length.)
- usr1106 8y ago
  At least we have trains. Even if we are not allowed to access this news site. Was this one of the GDPR panic sites, that blocks all Europeans or just a random error?
- gomox 8y ago
  It's really not the same. Amtrak long distances are very different from actual economically viable passenger rail lines. It's mostly the people: no one who rides Amtrak long distance does it because it's an efficient way of getting somewhere else. Precisely the reason why I think it's bound to go away. The closest thing I did in Europe was Budapest-Zagreb on an old German IC-style train. 7 hours for 150 miles or something like that. Croatian border patrol hops on the train and leaves with your passport at a border crossing in the middle of nowhere. I havent done the Transsiberian but that seems more similar to Amtrak than Western European trains.
  - OldHand2018 8y ago
    I did Budapest to Zagreb once as well! Actually, we stopped for a few days in Siófok, so it didn't seem like such a long trip. A little over 10 years ago I took the overnight train with a sleeping berth from Berlin to Stockholm. The train rolled slowly up to the coast, onto a ship and crossed to Sweden. I would highly recommend it, except that it doesn't exist anymore. In fact Germany no longer have any "overnight-style" trains at all.
    - germanier 8y ago
      There still is a Berlin-Stockholm nigh train, just not so frequent. https://www.snalltaget.se/en/destinations/berlin https://www.snalltaget.se/en/destinations/berlin There are also still a few other overnight trains within Germany, just by a different operator. https://www.nightjet.com/en/ https://www.nightjet.com/en/
saalweachter 8y ago
One item on my bucket list is circumnavigating the US by train, in a big loop, stopping here and there along the way. I'm not sure I'll ever find the time, but I also worry it won't be possible anymore when I do.
- gomox 8y ago
  I did NY->SF in a little under 2 weeks. The actual train ride is under 3 days. It doesn't take that long. Highly recommended.

If you like long distance trains make sure you ride the Amtraks before it's too late.

by gomox 8y ago

If you like long distance trains make sure you ride the Amtraks before it's too late.

koolba 8y ago

Or just go to Europe.

reaperducer 8y ago
Unless you mean Russia, Europe doesn't have the same kind of long-distance rail service. Remember Europe is geographically very small. And as much as it pains the anti-Americans in the audience, the United States still has the world's largest rail network. Number two is Russia, which is a distant second, followed by China. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_transport_network_size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_tran...
- Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
  Rail network != passenger rail network, though, which was the point of the top-level comment AIUI. If we look at patronage, US passenger miles in 2017 were 6.53bn. UK passenger miles in just one quarter were 10bn.
  - pjc50 8y ago
    We have a lot more rail commuters jammed into medium distance trains.
  - paleotrope 8y ago
    Well american trains don't go anywhere anyone wants to go to in a reasonable amount of time.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      I can get from Boston to NYC in a reasonable amount of time using the train. Very competitive with air. Not so much on my next trip from Boston to San Francisco.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  There are some long distance services in Europe, although many overnight services have been withdrawn. Amsterdam to Moscow remains, and is probably the longest, although it still can't compete with the USA on distance. I don't know what the scenery is like. The scenic rail journeys I'd recommend to a tourist are all much shorter. I also wouldn't recommend travelling just for the journey, which could be reasonable for crossing the USA (or Russia, China). Travel by train in Europe because you can conveniently visit several cities, avoid tiresome driving, or use the flexibility to hike/cycle/whatever without needing to return to where you started. (PS; I only made a rough calculation, but adding the network lengths of the EU countries on your link comes to around 80% of the USA length.)
usr1106 8y ago
At least we have trains. Even if we are not allowed to access this news site. Was this one of the GDPR panic sites, that blocks all Europeans or just a random error?
gomox 8y ago
It's really not the same. Amtrak long distances are very different from actual economically viable passenger rail lines. It's mostly the people: no one who rides Amtrak long distance does it because it's an efficient way of getting somewhere else. Precisely the reason why I think it's bound to go away. The closest thing I did in Europe was Budapest-Zagreb on an old German IC-style train. 7 hours for 150 miles or something like that. Croatian border patrol hops on the train and leaves with your passport at a border crossing in the middle of nowhere. I havent done the Transsiberian but that seems more similar to Amtrak than Western European trains.
- OldHand2018 8y ago
  I did Budapest to Zagreb once as well! Actually, we stopped for a few days in Siófok, so it didn't seem like such a long trip. A little over 10 years ago I took the overnight train with a sleeping berth from Berlin to Stockholm. The train rolled slowly up to the coast, onto a ship and crossed to Sweden. I would highly recommend it, except that it doesn't exist anymore. In fact Germany no longer have any "overnight-style" trains at all.
  - germanier 8y ago
    There still is a Berlin-Stockholm nigh train, just not so frequent. https://www.snalltaget.se/en/destinations/berlin https://www.snalltaget.se/en/destinations/berlin There are also still a few other overnight trains within Germany, just by a different operator. https://www.nightjet.com/en/ https://www.nightjet.com/en/

saalweachter 8y ago

One item on my bucket list is circumnavigating the US by train, in a big loop, stopping here and there along the way. I'm not sure I'll ever find the time, but I also worry it won't be possible anymore when I do.

gomox 8y ago
I did NY->SF in a little under 2 weeks. The actual train ride is under 3 days. It doesn't take that long. Highly recommended.