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I've only ever ridden it on the Bosh-Wash Corridor, where it's really the only place that it makes sense to choose over flying or driving. It's a really good way to get around the region, as it skips I-95 traffic and puts you in the center of the cities it goes to.
I've ridden Seattle-Portland several times, mostly with co-workers for overnight business gatherings. If you're going between the downtowns, it's arguably the fastest and easiest travel method. It's less hassle than the plane and you can show up close to departure. There also less chance of a traffic jam than driving. Massive foot room and you can wander over to the dining car for a microbrew. Once or twice we've sat on sidings to wait for freight to go by.
Seattle-Vancouver is sketchier due to extremely limited track capacity, landslides, and way more at-grade crossings. I did it once and the return was by bus due to a closure.
NYC to Chicago (via Philly) was a great overnight once long ago. Nice reclining seats. Except the lady who kept whining at her little kids late into the evening, always with a plaintive "pleeeeeeease" at the end of each sentence.
Along the Hudson Valley was great...it was October and fall colors were amazing.
NYC to Tampa was felt very long...sitting upright for hours and hours...
mysteriously stopping around midnight for 2 hours at DC...
the train then made a planned stop at Jacksonville, Florida....half of the train going to Miami,
the other half to Tampa.
It was interesting, and I like trains, but I said never again...too long on the train
It's great where I live! I live about a mile from the NE Regional line from Roanoke to NYC Amtrak Station in Lynchburg, VA and use it all the time. The train is frequently sold out and is usually faster going to DC or Philly as all flights out of Lynchburg go to Charlotte and you have to change planes to go anywhere and there's no interstate through Lynchburg. It's one of the few Amtrak services that turns a profit anywhere in the US. They will also be adding a second daily NE Regional line from Roanoke to DC starting next month which will make it more competitive.
Two weekends ago I took the train to DC for the weekend for $20 roundtrip. Rode a Bird scooter from my condo to the station in 12 minutes then 3.5 hours later I was in the heart of DC. Sure beats traffic and parking! Basically just read and watched shows the whole way. Also it's great because you can drink beer on the train and there's free WiFi.
Have taken the NE Regional dozens of times to DC, several times to NYC, and to Baltimore, Philly, and Boston as well. I also go on day trips an hour north to Charlottesville by train once every couple of months to get out of Lynchburg and do a brewery crawl, go shopping, and go see a movie on the downtown mall there. No need to worry about driving an hour after having a few beers! In the other direction I've taken the train to Charlotte and Greenville, SC but it's an overnight Crescent train that doesn't leave at the most ideal time, but it's doable.
Otherwise I also rode the train from Chicago to Milwaukee last year on the Hiawatha while visiting both cities for the first time (would recommend pairing these two cities for a trip and taking the train which takes about an hour and 20 minutes). For me I definitely prefer to travel by train where I can stretch out, read, take a nap, have a beer, and watch shows on my kindle. Especially since I typically travel alone it's hard driving long distances alone without being able to do any of that to keep me occupied. Yes I will rent a car and do the 5 hour drive to visit my parents in Asheville, but the older I get the less I really want to deal with that and now typically just fly to Asheville (too bad there isn't a train there). Also FYI I grew up in Georgia and never took the train living there. It wasn't until I moved to Virginia that I started using it all the time.
Along the Hudson Valley was great...it was October and fall colors were amazing.
NYC to Tampa was felt very long...sitting upright for hours and hours...
mysteriously stopping around midnight for 2 hours at DC...
the train then made a planned stop at Jacksonville, Florida....half of the train going to Miami,
the other half to Tampa.
It was interesting, and I like trains, but I said never again...too long on the train
Need to get at least a roomette if you're going to do this.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,225,683 times
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No, and I never will. I looked into it once, since we go to Portland Oregon frequently. The Amtrak doesn't even do that route now due to "staffing shortages." When they did, it took 3-1/2 hours, while we can drive it in just 2 hours 45 minutes. The Amtrak charged $173, while at $5 gas would only be about $30 in our car, and once there by train we would have to also get a rental car. My parents once took it from Seattle to Oakland, CA and they said "never again" after it was a terribly boring 24 hours, normally a 14 hour drive by car.
What I would do is take a scenic train like the Rocky Mountaineer, or Denali Star.
I heard Germany is spending $2.5 billion euros to reduce the cost of taking trams, intercity rail, and buses all Summer nationwide by 90% and 9 Euros a month on Deutsche Bahn to help curb driving. You read that right, 9 euros for an entire MONTH of travel by train anywhere in the entire country effective June 1 - August 31.
Would love to see the same kind of initiatives in the US on things like Amtrak and light rail. Virginia did do a $10 ride special for the months of April and May this year to anywhere within the state and to DC which I took advantage of with trips to Charlottesville and DC, but if initiatives as far reaching like what Germany is doing was more common across the US I would definitely take the train much more that I do currently.
What's interesting is I go to Germany often to visit family and complaining about Deutsche Bahn is every bit as popular over there as complaining about Amtrak is here. The difference is they complain about a train being 30 minutes late while we complain about a train sometimes being 3 hour late or delayed lol.
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