[bigbubba]

The trains are also more comfortable than [coach] plane seats by a long mile, and you don't have to deal with TSA either. Showing up at the station the minute the train rolls out is/was very feasible, unlike with flying. When I lived in Philly I used Amtrak every chance I got, whether I was going north to NY, south to DC, or west to Harrisburg. It was great. Very comfortable and low stress. And I could generally get tickets on short notice for a price affordable to a student.

[dragontamer]

When I was a student, all I could afford was the $10 or $20 bus, which was uncomfortable as all heck.

Now that I'm an adult with some money, I'm willing to pay $80 on the train ticket. I agree with you, way more leg room, much less stress.

There's a train that departs every hour in the day (and every 2-hours during midnight hours). I don't even need to plan anything. Just walk up to the train station and go. If you do that with airplanes, your costs double or more.

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Once you account for the ~1 hour in airport security, you're basically at the same speed as a train anyway. Then the significantly inferior location of LaGuardia vs Penn Station comes into play (you really can get to far more locations from Penn Station than LaGuardia).

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> The trains are also more comfortable than [coach] plane seats by a long mile

I did take the higher-end Acela Express once, just to see what its about. The prices are way higher, but you get an entire table for you (and your family).

Its very expensive, but if I were ever going to take children to NYC, I'd probably consider it.

I found a review for the Acela, it matches my experience: https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/acela-business-class/

When I took the Acela Express, families were out playing board games during the train ride. Train-level comfort is far superior to plane comfort.

I'd say Coach Train seats are comparable to Airplane first-class. And first-class Train seats are... well.. you can see the Acela review for yourself.

[bigbubba]

Another factor to consider is that when trading an hour in line for TSA for an hour on the train, you can relax, take a nap or read a book, while in line for the TSA you have to stay awake and alert. The same applies for time spent in the airport terminal, I'm always afraid to doze off there, lest I miss my flight. And as you mention, missing a train is generally not a huge deal; I missed a few over the years and was always able to get onto the next train an hour of so later. This flexibility alone gives huge peace of mind.

At the time I think I was paying about $40 or so between Philly and Harrisburg, one or two times a month. Not as cheap as a bus, but well worth it I think.

[dragontamer]

Cell phones also work for most of the ride.

If you enter a tunnel or something, your cell phone shuts off (but there are rumors of cell phone companies beginning to deploy towers inside of tunnels!! So maybe even the "tunnel problem" will be fixed soon). But in today's age where the cell phone is your connection to the world in general, its a pretty nifty advantage.

[derg]

yep. trains are also more relaxing in ways that busses/planes can ever be for me. it feels like the one time my brain can truly shut up for a bit and i can just enjoy existing.

something about the smoothness of the rails (speaking from a similar position in the nec) as the world speeds by is incredibly calming to me.