[SoftTalker]

Rail travel on Amtrak is a novelty. The trip is the destination. Outside of a few routes that are essentially commuter routes, it's not cheaper or faster than alternatives, so I'm not sure why anyone considers it. "Ooohh it would be fun to take the train" is basically it, and that's fine. Amtrak is fun if you've got the time and never tried it, as long as you aren't delayed for 12 hours, which is actually pretty common. I tried it once. I was 24 hours late to my destination, and the train experience wore thin pretty quickly. I have not and will not consider it again. I'd rather drive and sleep in my car at rest areas.

[vharuck]

The only time I've bought a train ticket is when the wife and I took a trip to see a musical in New York. We're only a four hour drive from New York, but I hate driving near it, and really hate driving in it. So we booked a hotel four blocks from the train station and just rode an early morning Amtrak. That was worth it. It took longer than a drive, but we slept through half the ride anyway.

But it was definitely a luxury "vacation" purchase. I looked at tickets while planning our last trip, going to Boston. It was insane. Hell, it was this past Labor Day weekend, when New Jersey rail was free for almost a week. Even then, of we'd have driven into NJ, took a free train into New York, then took an Amtrak to Boston, the tickets from NY to Boston would be so more than flying from Baltimore. How is New York to Boston not a cheaper line?!

[r0ze-at-hn]

I bought a NYC to Boston ticket for a few weeks from now for $35 this morning. Depends on many factors but once you know you can easily buy the cheap tickets.