125?! It costs $180 round trip from DC. Whereas it will cost me $140 round trip to take United’s shuttle service from National to LaGuardia. And instead of 3.5-4 hours on a train, it takes me one hour on the plane. Plus, the trains are almost always late.
The only reason to take the train, for me, is that I can walk up and buy a ticket. Which is admittedly an advantage since I tend not to make plans more than a week in advance. Other than that, it’s slower, more expensive and generally less enjoyable than the plane.
The Northeast corridor is the only train routes (Metroliner, Accella) that Amtrak makes a profit on.
The reason? It works. Boston…NYC…Philly…Baltimore…D.C. I would consider it the preferred way to shoot through these key cities. Downtown to downtown as another poster mentioned.
Actually, i underestimated slightly. It’s currently $142 roundtrip from Baltimore to New York.
Sure, the plane only takes an hour, but with a plane flight you can’t stroll into the airport five minutes before the plane is due to leave. If i already have an Amtrak ticket, i can walk into Penn Station at Baltimore only minutes before the train’s departure time, without worrying about check-in and security lines. That cuts off at least half an hour. The train station is also in the city, unlike BWI. At least you have the advantage that National Airport is close to the city.
Then, at the other end i can walk straight out of the station and onto 30th street, rather than having to get out of LaGuardia airport and organize some way to get to Manhattan.
I do think that, in your situation, i might take the plane. It takes almost an hour longer to get to NYC by train from Washington than it does from Baltimore, and that makes a difference. Also, it seems to be about $40 more expensive from DC.
As for punctuality, i find that the train is most likely to be late if it starts from a further destination. For example, the trains coming north from Florida or the Carolinas are often late. And the trains coming south from Boston are often late. But quite a few trains start in DC and finish in NYC (and vice versa), and i find that these trains usually run pretty close to their scheduled times.
I’ve taken the train to Boston before, and i think that i might go for the plane next time.
Baltimore to NYC is one thing, as that takes about the same length of time as the plane (if you count getting to and from the airports, etc.). But Baltimore to Boston takes the better part of 8 hours, which makes for a pretty long day. Flying, you can be in Boston before lunchtime.
I’ve taken the Acela from Boston to NYC and Jersey City a fair number of times. It wasn’t any more or less convenient for me, but I live in place that has easy access to Logan, anywhere else in the city, and the train is easier to get to. It took slightly less time door to door than flying did, and if I lived someplace with T access, would be significantly faster.
It was a more comfortable and relaxing way to get from here to there, and I’d recommend it to anyone making the trip. The trains were never late.
You can board a train without an airport-style cavity search, too. Factor in the other time you have to allot for an airplane ride and the door-to-door time may be better. That is certainly true for downtown to downtown trips in the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak owns its own tracks and doesn’t have to pull aside for freight trains.
I took Amtrack when I moved to the west coast in 1996, from Syracuse to San Francisco. It cost about $800 for a sleeper compartment then, and the plane tickets were about the same. We were young and on an adventure so had the 3 days to kill but money-wise they were the smart choice. Oh and your food came included in the price of the compartment. Oh and also because of the luggage; there weren’t luggage restrictions like on an airplane and we were able to get all our crap out west without having to pay extra or ship seperately.
Some of the best fun I’ve ever had, would do it again in a heartbeat.
I also have taken the commuter trains up and down the east coast, and they too have been wonderfuly convenient and cost-effective.
That is true about your situation. Although, since I only take a carry-on when I take the shuttle my check-in takes about five minutes. And I usually only get there about 30 minutes before my plane leaves since security is a jiff at National, due to surprisingly low passenger traffic. I usually have to get to Union Station in DC about 30-40 minutes before the train leaves, too, since otherwise you may not get a seat. The line starts forming as soon as the gate is announced and it winds down the corridor pretty far.
True, that is a definite advantage, but not a huge one since I usually stay in Brooklyn or Queens for the weekend. I hate lugging around my duffel through Manhattan.
The biggest thing I like about Amtrak is you can walk up and get your ticket that same day if you need to. If you try that with the shuttle, it winds up getting more expensive.
I take Amtrak from New York to Phila. about twice a month, and find it incredibly convenient. Even when they run late, it’s a damn sight better than driving, the bus or a plane.
I’ve taken a sleeper car to Charleston, too, and enjoyed it so much I intend to take one to New Orleans next time I go.
a) Half hour before boarding began. Boarding takes several hours.
b) The “Surfliner” runs fairly close to schedule, we pulled in right on time.
c) My faith was shared by about 100 other people who got on the train on the way there and walked to the cruise ship with us.
That might be a tough one, but I think the feedback from people will prove to be positive for those going from DC to NY…or Philly to D.C, or NJ to Baltimore…etc. It proves to be an asset for Amtrak, too.
When my father was living north of Chicago, he’d take a cab to the commuter train, take that to Union Station, then transfer to Amtrak and take the train to St. Louis. We lived five minutes from the local Amtrak station so he could call us when the train pulled in. He said it was well worth the somewhat longer trip because he didn’t have to drive to O’Hare Airport and go through security and the crowds, and could avoid the much longer trip from the St. Louis airport to our home. Plus, it was much easier to get up and stretch his legs on the train.
For a year I worked in Manhatten and lived in Philly. The only way that this was possible was because of Amtrak. Granted, including walking to the train stations and taking the subway in Manhatten it was about a 1:45 trip, but this would not be possible any other way.
I did have some bad experiences (if I have to hear about trains being delayed for “Downed Wires” again I would go crazy), but for $550 monthly pass (on non-Acela) it was not that bad.
The Acela looks good on paper, but there are unfortunate limitations in its operation. I seem to recall that although it was designed to go 150+ MPH, it’s limited on the Conrail tracks to about half of that, making it only slightly faster than the regular Metroliner. It’s much nicer on the inside and more like a plane, but a DC-NYC ticket costs the same as a plane ticket, so you might as well fly if you don’t mind the airport-related inconveniences. True high-speed rail in the U.S. is still pretty far in the future; it’s probably much more likely in Canada.
I like to take the train when I got up to Hollywood (from OC) to go dancing (train to L.A. then the subway to Hollywood). I can only do this when the club goes late enough that the wait for the train back isn’t outageously long.
I lve train travel and wish I could do it more often. But the times & limited areas it goes to make it difficult.
Until Independence Air came along, I used to take Amtrak from Durham to Alexandria, VA all the time. It was a few hours slower than flying, but much cheaper and less of a hassle, and I detest long-distance driving, so that really wasn’t an option.
Every time we have federal elections in Canada ,politicians promise to build high speed train network from Quebec City via Montreal,Toronto to Windsor (very good idea).
After elections all is forgoten or cancelled.As I posted before Canada has really primitive rail network.First -we would have to build new tracks for the high speed trains ,current tracks are only good for up to 100Kmh.
Then of course we have to build electric transmission grid for the trains(Canada is I believe only one industrial country which does not have one)
Upgrading stations is also necessery ,etc.
I don’t see anything even close to the Acela trains network being build in Canada
for the next 50 years
PS. It is such a joy to go to Germany or France and see those beautyfull trains almost flying across the land.
Fastest I rode on German Inter-City was 245Kmh- awesome!!.
I have taken the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner several times and never had a lick of trouble. But I gotta say, Business Class is totally worth the extra money if you are able to splurge a bit.
When I lived in Ann Arbor, I used to take the train to Chicago on occasion. It was much, much, MUCH more convenient than it would have been to take a shuttle to Detroit and fly to Chicago, and usually significantly cheaper (special deals can be had occasionally). A good friend of mine lives in St. Louis and I’ve taken the train to visit her a couple times. Very convenient.
Not to mention, when you factor in the time it takes to get to the airport, wait in lines, and sit around, the time difference is pretty minor, and the much less stressful environment of the train more than makes up for that loss of time. I should add that I don’t have a car, so my choices are limited. I wouldn’t want to take Amtrak to California or anything, but for travelling around the Midwest, it’s great.
Back in graduate school I commuted from Portland to Euguene by Amtrak. The train was almost never crowded, usually quiet and a great place to study. It was an expensive way to get back and forth, but for a 100 mile commute each way, it was worth it.
