Amtrak from Boston to NYC is a pleasant experience but it is very slow and expensive. Even with getting to and from the airport, the plane is faster. The fastes

Amtrak from Boston to NYC is a pleasant experience but it is very slow and expensive. Even with getting to and from the airport, the plane is faster. The fastest ground transport between the two cities is the Chinatown bus and it only costs $10. I'm all for more trains but as someone else pointed out, SF to LA is a weird route. Once you get to LA, what do you do? Rent a car? The other direction makes more sense but I wonder if there are many people who actually go from LA to SF on a regular basis. I actually do, and it only costs $40 on Virgin America and hardly anyone is on the plane. It would make more sense having high speed rail going from SF->PDX->SEA->VAN... at least once you get to those cities you can get around without a car.