I envy those East-coast Amtrak routes. Amtrak's so damn much more pleasant than flying coach[0] but in most of the country the trains travel fairly slowly to be

I envy those East-coast Amtrak routes. Amtrak's so damn much more pleasant than flying coach[0] but in most of the country the trains travel fairly slowly to begin with, which might be OK if they weren't also routinely subject to 50-100% increases in stated travel time due to having to yield to freight traffic, making them not just way slower than driving, but also extremely unpredictable (so, very inconvenient to anyone waiting for you on the other end) [0] Of course, being stabbed with a hot poker is more pleasant than flying coach, but Amtrak's a lot more pleasant.