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The Accela is an Amtrak train that sometimes goes highway speeds (as opposed to, with Amtrak, almost never) and costs three times as much. Blerg.

tptacek 17y ago
The thing you're not acknowledging is that for trips under 3-4 hours, highway speeds + highway overhead beats jet speeds + jet overhead. It's a coin flip whether driving Chicago -> Detroit is better than flying it. You don't need to be better than highway speed to be extremely valuable. The Acela is a much easier way to get from NYC to Boston than driving (done both), and it's more reliable and sometimes faster than flying.
Kadin 17y ago
Don't exaggerate; it's not "three times as much." Amtrak NEC Service, New Haven (NHV) to Washington Union Station (WAS): Train 175, Northeast Regional, 5'46", $139 Train 2173, Acela Express, 4'36", $213 So for $74 extra you get there roughly an hour and ten minutes faster, provided they both run on-time. (In my experience the Acelas tend to run on-time more often than the regionals, although they both run late more frequently than they should.) The Acela is also a business-class seat while the Regional is coach, and the Acela train is nicer overall. Whether it's worth the extra money for the extra hour is a personal decision, of course, but I don't think the pricing is wholly inappropriate. It would be great if the Acela was faster because that would make the value equation that much better, but it's not a terrible ripoff as-is. EDIT: These are fares for today, the equivalent of a "Yankee-class" ticket on an airline. You could do better by buying with a 3-day advance, but I think the Acela/Regional delta would be about the same, percent-wise.
- catzaa 17y ago
  > Train 2173, Acela Express, 4'36", $213 Dude, it is still crap expensive. In my country you pay $210 for a 2000km plane ticket return (4000km total). That is just crazy. In China trains are dirt cheap, on-time, clean and fast (at least the ones I took). Why does that train of yours have to be that expensive?
- hughprime 17y ago
  Wow, I had no idea the Acela was that expensive. Alternatively, I just checked and you can fly from Boston to Baltimore (today, with no advance purchase) for $96, and it takes 1'24". (I admit this isn't quite your example, but it's a reasonable illustration of a similar route). Or you could drive New Haven to DC, which is 306 miles, and google maps suggests 5 hours 30 mins (admittedly optimistic in traffic). If you drive alone in a gas-hogging 25 mpg car like mine that'll cost you about $40. I'm starting to understand why nobody takes the Amtrak.

tptacek 17y ago

The thing you're not acknowledging is that for trips under 3-4 hours, highway speeds + highway overhead beats jet speeds + jet overhead. It's a coin flip whether driving Chicago -> Detroit is better than flying it. You don't need to be better than highway speed to be extremely valuable. The Acela is a much easier way to get from NYC to Boston than driving (done both), and it's more reliable and sometimes faster than flying.

Kadin 17y ago

Don't exaggerate; it's not "three times as much." Amtrak NEC Service, New Haven (NHV) to Washington Union Station (WAS): Train 175, Northeast Regional, 5'46", $139 Train 2173, Acela Express, 4'36", $213 So for $74 extra you get there roughly an hour and ten minutes faster, provided they both run on-time. (In my experience the Acelas tend to run on-time more often than the regionals, although they both run late more frequently than they should.) The Acela is also a business-class seat while the Regional is coach, and the Acela train is nicer overall. Whether it's worth the extra money for the extra hour is a personal decision, of course, but I don't think the pricing is wholly inappropriate. It would be great if the Acela was faster because that would make the value equation that much better, but it's not a terrible ripoff as-is. EDIT: These are fares for today, the equivalent of a "Yankee-class" ticket on an airline. You could do better by buying with a 3-day advance, but I think the Acela/Regional delta would be about the same, percent-wise.

catzaa 17y ago
> Train 2173, Acela Express, 4'36", $213 Dude, it is still crap expensive. In my country you pay $210 for a 2000km plane ticket return (4000km total). That is just crazy. In China trains are dirt cheap, on-time, clean and fast (at least the ones I took). Why does that train of yours have to be that expensive?
hughprime 17y ago
Wow, I had no idea the Acela was that expensive. Alternatively, I just checked and you can fly from Boston to Baltimore (today, with no advance purchase) for $96, and it takes 1'24". (I admit this isn't quite your example, but it's a reasonable illustration of a similar route). Or you could drive New Haven to DC, which is 306 miles, and google maps suggests 5 hours 30 mins (admittedly optimistic in traffic). If you drive alone in a gas-hogging 25 mpg car like mine that'll cost you about $40. I'm starting to understand why nobody takes the Amtrak.