[paxys]

Sleeping in a hotel room is still preferable to an uncomfortable bed on a bumpy train. And most business travelers on this route fly in directly in the morning and fly out in the evening, no hotel needed.

If they are serious about train commutes between SF and LA they need to make the high speed rail line happen and ferry people across in 2.5 hours station to station. Anything else is a non-starter.

[schrectacular]

No business traveller is getting the $50 ticket though. And I like being rocked to sleep on a train... Not sure about US but on trains I've been on the middle fare is already quite comfy. The lower fares tend to lack in vertical space tbough. And your point about morning-in, evening-out is valid too.

[wpietri]

For some! I've done a cross-country train trip and I really liked it, despite Amtrak's cars clearly needing a refresh. I'd prefer this.

A while back, a bunch of friends were all going from SF to the same conference in LA. Some drew, some flew. Door to door, it took about the same amount of time thanks to getting to the airport, renting a car, and getting from the airport. 6-7 hours, basically. Then there's checking in, etc.

So from my perspective, I can burn a day on travel and a night at a hotel. Or I can sleep through the travel and recover a whole day for something I actually want to use it for.