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A review of Amtrak rail travel in the United States
| Summary: The US rail system, operated by Amtrak, is an underutilized and comfortable means of transportation. Although it lags far behind European rail lines in its modernization and route coverage, you can still reach a lot of destinations pretty cheaply on Amtrak. I prefer Amtrak over the airplane for train trips that are 5 hours or less. With all of the hassles of security and getting to/from the airport, the train can be almost as fast as the airplane for these shorter journeys and much more comfortable. Amtrak travel can vary widely from region to region, so I discuss the four regions I've traveled by train: the Northeast Corridor (Boston-DC), the Pacific Northwest (Seattle-Portland), and the Southeastern Coast (DC-Savannah). |
Article created: Jan 13, 2008
Article by: Jeremiah Faith
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The Amtrak passenger rail service in the United States is nowhere near as extensive in its coverage or as modern in its trains and services as European trains. However, this underutilized form of US transportation is increasing in popularity as airline delays become more frequent and airport security gets increasingly complicated (I think I'll never get used to throwing my water bottle away and buying a new one when I make flight connections; what a waste). Although the distances between US cities makes rail travel less practical in many situations, I always choose a 4 hour train ride over a 1 hour plane ride (plus arriving 2 hours early for security, plus adding an additional hour for retrieving baggage from the baggage claim and taking a taxi into the city).
US rail travel on Amtrak can vary greatly from one part of the country to the next. Below I'll describe the general positives and negatives of US rail travel. Then I'll discuss some of the unique features of the routes I've taken thus far, so you can know what to expect when you travel by rail in these regions.
Positive Aspects of US rail travel Compared with air travel, the train is: - less stressful (fewer security checks, just show up 15-30 minutes in advance and hop on)
- more comfortable (more leg room, larger seats, larger bathrooms, and you can take a walk)
- often drops you off in the city center
- more scenic (flying over the alps or the grand canyon is nice, but for the most part the view out of an airplane is not very scenic)
- much more robust to bad weather (a train might arrive late during a big snow storm, but at least you won't be stuck sleeping at an airport. In the winter, air travel can really be horrendous when you fly between two cities that get a lot of snow. On more than one occasion, I've taken the train when my flight between DC and Boston was having weather issues.)
- more flexible (the cancellation fee for a rail ticket is often lower than that of a non-refundable plane ticket)
- stops in smaller towns (trains stop at many destinations that have no airport)
- food car (not sure if this is a positive or a negative, because the food is not spectacular but at least it's available on most trains; if you live in an expensive city like Boston, NYC, or San Francisco, the food prices will seem reasonable; if you are from elsewhere, the food will seem expensive)
- weekly specials (you can find extremely cheap tickets on the weekly specials section of their website; specials aren't generally available for the Northeastern Corridor)
Negative Aspects of US rail travel - slower for long distance trips (obviously)
- train stations in smaller towns have few amenities and might be in the "bad part of town"
- fewer route options (with air travel there are often many routes one can take to a particular destination; on the train their is usually one route, if any, to your destination)
- not always on time (particularly on long routes that aren't in the Northeast Corridor, the train is often running behind; you can call to receive discount vouchers if your train is really late)
Useful US rail information You can see schedules, fares, and book tickets at http://www.amtrak.com/.
The same information is available from Julie – Amtrak's automated telephone system (1-800-872-7245). This phone number is particularly useful to check if a train is on time. At smaller stations, Julie knows more about train status than the local train employees.
Northeast Corridor  Union Station in Washington DC
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