Why Train Travel Sucks in America
Pretty much nailed it.
" Rooster " said:
Well said.
(I shouldn’t encourage this type of behavior!)
" Rooster " said:
Well said.
(I shouldn’t encourage this type of behavior!)
Tell me something I don’t know…LOL I brought this topic up earlier this year. My wife and I were planning a trip to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. While it is possible to get there by train, the journey would have taken three days, due to changing trains in New York City, an overnight layover in Montreal, because Amtrak and VIA schedules don’t like one another, the a motor coach trip into Quebec City. To add insult to injury, the total cost was far more than driving. All of the above doesn’t take any delays into account, which are quite possible.
So yes, train travel in America sucks, big time. The narrator pointed out the compactness of Europe. That’s probably the biggest reason trains do so well over there. We’ve travelled by train in England, France and Italy and it was a pleasure.
You wanna know what sucks ??
The light railroad to the Denver airport just opened up. It costs $9.00. You heard that right: NINE dollars.
ONE WAY.
I planned to take two of my kids on a little train ride from Union Station out to the airport and back, was really looking forward to it, just a nice outing…FIFTY-FOUR DOLLARS.
You must be kidding. No freaking way.
Yes, it’s expensive for a joy ride. But compared to to other airport transport it’s a bargain. We used it to leave the airport on our July trip. The first leg to Union Station was great. Schleping bags three blocks to the connecting LRT lines was not fun, and then those load with four steps up to the floor. More bag fun.
If I understand it correctly, that $9 fare is a day pass for anywhere in the system. Perhaps you cant terminate at the airport and do an about face on the same ticket, but if you were to get off one station before it would be legit. BTW - when we rode, no one checked tickets on either train.
John Passaro said:
…FIFTY-FOUR DOLLARS.
John, a day pass on RTD is $9, which gives you unlimited travel on the entire system including the airport and the new B line out to Westminster. Kids 6 - 19 qualify for half price, so for you and your two kids, it would be $18 for the day. I’ve done that with my kids a few times now. I’ve got to check out the B line to Westminster yet, and I’ve not yet ridden down the Santa Fe line to Highlands Ranch. Waiting for the 225 extension from 9-mile to open up as well. That’ll be quicker access for me to the airport since I won’t have to go all the way downtown first.
Later,
K
For those of you who like to simulate train ops and cover the US, if you have a passenger train, be sure to give the freight priority when they pass.
I might be willing to put up with delays and pay the high fees but the killer is in my case the need to drive 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get to a location to catch a train that only passes through in the middle of the night.
Us is a BIG country…not surprised…am surprised that two companies have the power to make passenger traffic second class tho’
FRANCE … six times larger than the UK…16000 trains a day
UK…21000 trains a day…and a darn sight more expensive fares!! but they have s-l-o-w-l-y upgraded quite a number of routes for High Speed. (they forgot to mention that ).
I can very easily get to an Amtrak station, and it has free parking. Its great if your want to go to Portland Me, or Boston, MA (and anywhere in between). However, if you want go to other destinations from Boston, it brings you to the wrong station. To go the mile from N. Station to S. Station, requires taking two subway lines…in fact I think its actually quicker to walk! Either way, you’ll want to pack lightly, or plan to hire a cab between the stations.
When we took Amtrak LA to Boston, it was an experience, but one I would easily do again. From home to LA Union Station, we had originally planned to take the vomit express aka the local bus, to the Metro Gold Line station then to LAUS but our neighbor insisted on dropping us off at the Gold Line.
From Pasadena it was Gold Line direct to LAUS, then on the train (coach, which next time I will fork out the dough for a day cabin) to Chicago, the train to Boston meant a layover of a few hours, so we stowed our luggage in a rented locker and walked around Chicago and had a nice dinner at a restaurant we had been eager to try (Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill). The food in the dining car on the Southwest Chief was very good BTW.
The train to Boston was an overnighter, the only detriment was that it blew its horn at a level crossing every 20 seconds keeping people awake. we skipped the dining car on this leg, we got to Boston, walked across the street to the Metro station and a couple stops later we were at our station, we had to walk one long block in Newton to our hotel but we made it a okay.
Return was pretty much a repeat except this time we did take the vomit express local bus, which fortunately was sans vomit or usual crazy person screaming in the back of the bus. From the bus stop to the house is only half a block and a few barking dogs but we did it, coast to coast entirely (almost) by public transit and Amtrak.
Scenery was the biggest plus, American southwest, the farm belt, the length of Erie Canal, plus seeing Americas backyards being highlights
The Empire Builder leaves Spokane eastbound (When it’s on time) about 2 AM. Passes through Glacier Park area at night or very early in the AM. Too dark to see anything. Then the rest of the trip to Chicago is flat land with miles and miles of nothing. Does that make sense?
If it traveled through the Rockies during daylight hours, I would book a short round trip Spokane to Montana and back.
Well, then, thanks to Radder and Kevin I dug into the train website and found the day passes and discounts.
So I take it all back: riding around anywhere in Denver you want for the whole day for two kids and an adult (we won’t need to identify who is whom, now will we?) for $18 ain’t that bad all in all.
Of course on the airport train there’s the signals that don’t work, trains losing power and stranding people for hours at a time, and all that, but it’s new and I’m sure they’ll work it out.
John Bouck said:
The Empire Builder leaves Spokane eastbound (When it’s on time) about 2 AM. Passes through Glacier Park area at night or very early in the AM. Too dark to see anything. Then the rest of the trip to Chicago is flat land with miles and miles of nothing. Does that make sense?
If it traveled through the Rockies during daylight hours, I would book a short round trip Spokane to Montana and back.
Doesn’t make sense, does it? The Builder travels through the Rockies AND the Cascades in darkness. Go figure.
Unless its late.
I never thought I would say this but we got lucky the train was late heading eastbound. We arrived in Whitefish at day break. What a beautiful trek through glacier.
As much as I love trains, they are an antiquated form of transportation. As mentioned in the video, even in their heyday, passenger service rarely broke even, much less made a profit. Trains only make sense for shipping very large quantities of material.
The St Maries River Railroad, the shortline that some say was the last true logging train (owned by a logging company for hte purpose of moving logs from the woods to the mill) came to the realization that is was no longer worth it. They had to bring the logs down on trucks, unload them, load them on trains, then take them to the mill, unload them, take the empties back up and do it all over. It was easier to just leave the logs on the trucks. Its reality. Unless its a tourist train nostalgia is not a reason to keep a railroad running, profit is.