[pengaru]

I traveled coach from CHI(IL) to SAC(CA) with a mountain bike in tow on the Zephyr for $120 at the end of October.

Not aware of anything comparable cost-wise, especially bringing a fully assembled ready to ride mtb along.

Annoyingly however, even a Greyhound bus does the trip faster than the Zephyr. Such is the sad state of passenger rail in the US.

[woodruffw]

For what it's worth, it's possible to get a NY -> DC ticket (or vice versa) on the NE regional for about $30. You just need to book sufficiently far in advance (IME, around two months). Usually not a weird time either -- I paid $64 for a round-trip weekend ticket during normal hours (early afternoon both ways).

Source: I've taken that train at least 150 times at this point.