5 ms·

As behind as the US is on this front, the NE Regional and Acela are fantastic for NY-DC travel. It's infinitely less headache in terms of what you can bring (li

As behind as the US is on this front, the NE Regional and Acela are fantastic for NY-DC travel. It's infinitely less headache in terms of what you can bring (liquids in baggage and not really much of a weight limit), space (leg room for days), general comfort (no cabin pressure)... I could go on about this.

edent 7y ago
I had an enjoyable trip on the Empire line from NYC to Niagara. A beautiful way to see that part of the country, without the horrors of the TSA.
jtms 7y ago
I used to travel NYC to Boston fairly often for work and I absolutely loved the experience of taking the Acela. The problem is that it’s so expensive! This was fine when my employer was willing to pay, but I wouldn’t pay it myself (it’s usually far more expensive than flying in my experience)
siffland 7y ago
The problem for the US in the case of trains is that the US government owns Amtrak and they own no actual train tracks. Therefore when there are 2 trains competeing for the same track, Amtrak has to yield to the commercial trains. I have seen recent court arguments that it should be the other way around, but as of last year when i brought my father down from chicago to san antonio that was the case (that is a near 40 hour train ride). I would ride the trainmore if it were quicker and a 4-5 hour flight or 18 hour drive didnt take 40 hours on a train.
darkpuma 7y ago
With no noxious TSA checkpoint and a streamlined boarding process, it's amazing how much more pleasant travel by train is. I often arrive an hour early, if not more, to an airport. Between unpredictable TSA wait times and the lengthy boarding process of airplanes, it's a huge waste of time. When I'm traveling by train, I often arive at the train station no more than 5 minutes before I am sitting on the train. There are no lines to enter the train station and the line to board the train moves quickly because the train has more space to move around on and because the train has multiple entrances and exits. It's totally feasible to walk into a train station then without stopping walk straight onto a train. That's an experience I'm generally willing to pay extra for vs flying, but unfortunately in America the opportunities to take advantage of trains are lacking if you live outside the Northeast Corridor, as I now do.

edent 7y ago

I had an enjoyable trip on the Empire line from NYC to Niagara. A beautiful way to see that part of the country, without the horrors of the TSA.

jtms 7y ago

I used to travel NYC to Boston fairly often for work and I absolutely loved the experience of taking the Acela. The problem is that it’s so expensive! This was fine when my employer was willing to pay, but I wouldn’t pay it myself (it’s usually far more expensive than flying in my experience)

siffland 7y ago

The problem for the US in the case of trains is that the US government owns Amtrak and they own no actual train tracks. Therefore when there are 2 trains competeing for the same track, Amtrak has to yield to the commercial trains. I have seen recent court arguments that it should be the other way around, but as of last year when i brought my father down from chicago to san antonio that was the case (that is a near 40 hour train ride). I would ride the trainmore if it were quicker and a 4-5 hour flight or 18 hour drive didnt take 40 hours on a train.

darkpuma 7y ago

With no noxious TSA checkpoint and a streamlined boarding process, it's amazing how much more pleasant travel by train is. I often arrive an hour early, if not more, to an airport. Between unpredictable TSA wait times and the lengthy boarding process of airplanes, it's a huge waste of time. When I'm traveling by train, I often arive at the train station no more than 5 minutes before I am sitting on the train. There are no lines to enter the train station and the line to board the train moves quickly because the train has more space to move around on and because the train has multiple entrances and exits. It's totally feasible to walk into a train station then without stopping walk straight onto a train. That's an experience I'm generally willing to pay extra for vs flying, but unfortunately in America the opportunities to take advantage of trains are lacking if you live outside the Northeast Corridor, as I now do.