Off the Road: Train Travel Could Be a Delight
Published April 22, 2006
Because one great thing about rail lines is that they're scalable. A rail line can be expensive to put in, but, after that, adding capacity is very, very cheap since trains can run minutes apart without slowing the system down. So instead of constantly adding new highways to handle more and more cars, you just add more cars to an existing train or add more frequent train service on the existing track. And with more frequent service, you provide even more incentive for travelers to leave the car at home.
If we want to start weaning ourselves off of oil, we need to find alternative ways for average citizens to get to where they need to go. Air travel is simply too expensive (and oil-hungry) to fill the gap. But picture this: establish regional networks of rail lines connecting population centers within a region so that people have rail as a viable choice. A three-way connection between Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago, for instance. Or in Minnesota, regular service connecting Duluth, Rochester, and the Twin Cities. All with intermediate stops to provide at least some service to the communities in between.
Tie that into a viable light-rail system in the Twin Cities, and suddenly someone from Duluth could take the train down to the Cities for the weekend instead of driving. Or Twin Citians could take the train to the North Shore. Or college students could travel by train. Or patients at the Mayo Clinic. And so on.
I don't blame people who refuse to ride Amtrak in its present state. But maybe we should demand that passenger rail be given a chance to show what it can do before we pull the plug, free of the conflicting demands that have hampered it ever since Amtrak was created in the 1960s.
And maybe millions of new riders would rediscover just how pleasant mass transit can be.
- Off the Road: Train Travel Could Be a Delight
- Published: April 22, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Society, Culture: Travel
- Writer: Sean Aqui
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I am 69 years old with limited money for traveling. I recently purchased a 30 day north america rail pass. Although there were personnel with attitudes and delays I loved the trip and will do it again. The time delays are an inconvenience but it's easy to make allowances. I realize that it woulld be different if your trip were time sensitive. The people who are on a time schedule should, of course, fly. I think it would be a shame to only let the freight see our beautiful country. I do not understand our government regarding spending money for the rail system.
melva foregger
The main problem with rail in America is that it's inefficient for high-need, low-volume business AKA people. The distances between our cities are too great, and the potential numbers of passengers are too small for trains to operate in the efficient and economical way that they do in Europe.
Dave
I love trains. These days I cannot fly because of my heart.
Train travel in the Northeast Corridor -- Boston to Washington and the Hudson River Line -- provides short hauls and high ridership. Trains are usually clean and luxurious. Along the Hudson River, Albany to NYC, the rails had been welded when we left the US (1997) and the trains were running faster.
The Rhinebeck to Penn Station hop was impossible by plane, tedious and dangerous by car with the traffic and parking of the City. It is a pleasure by train with comfortable seats, some trains with dining car and it delivers you straight into mid-town.
After my heart attack I had to visit my mother hurriedly due to serious illness. I couldn't fly and the drive is long and tiring. I finally took the Silver Meteor, a train of the same name as the train I used to ogle as a boy when my Yankee great aunt arrived from New York. It was sleek and aluminum with diesel newness and 50s aerodynamics. It was all power and excitement. I didn't like her but the train was magnificent.
The trip by Amtrak took about 30 hours in coach. I slept fitfully sitting up. In the morning I tried the dining car and had a fine breakfast made totally to order, met some people including a freight train engineer and we watched the Savannah River go by complete with 'gator sunning himself near the trestle.
It would have been great save that the rails stopped near Orlando and the last 88 miles were by rickety, non-AC bus. Perhaps it has improved.
Moral: inter-city travel where the distances are negligible are wonderful for trains. The Congress needs to keep them running and persuade more people to leave the cars behind. Perhaps if the Northeast Corridor were separate it would show that the train can make a profit.
The long hauls on the Silver Meteor or the 20th Century Limited (still running??) might be ok with a room and plenty of time or a ticket and time to stay over here and there. If I ever go back to New York I will have to try it again. I hope I have time and money to make it a pleasure.
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I'm surprised you were able to make that trip for only $27. The times I've tried to schedule a trip by train in the US the thing which has dissuaded me has been the price. Even when the destinations are within commuter distances the price ends up being a killer. For example, on a recent trip to the east coast we needed to visit a variety of nearby locations to see different family members and attend various activities. We needed to go from Manchester, NH where our plane got in to Nantucket, RI and from there to New York City, and then back from NYC to Manchester. That's a pretty convenient triangle of travel, but to do it we would have had to go pretty far out of our way on one of the legs and then change trains, and the total cost ended up being astonomical. It would have been about the same price to fly in short hops and it was considerably less expensive to rent a luxury SUV with lots of room for the kids and drive the whole trip - even including $30 a day for parking in NYC.
I did take a cool train trip a year ago in Europe, though. We landed at Gatwick Airport south of London for a 5 hour layover. Rather than wait in the airport we hopped on one of the trains that runs every 20 minutes from Gatwick to Brighton and for about $8 each we got to spend 2 hours at the beach, which was a lot more fun than waiting in an airport, and we had no problem getting back in time for our flight to Geneva.
Dave