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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",

by 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.

by Kadin 17y ago

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.