Does nobody ride amtrak because it's expensive as hell?

[lxskllr]

yea its super expensive. I can see the train from Denver to Chicago every night from my back porch and i would love to just take it one day for the adventure but not at the price they want.

Freight trains are free, but extra slow. The accommodations aren't the most luxurious either, but it's hard to complain given the price.

 

[alkemyst]

I had a one year rail pass back in 1999ish for like $175 that was good all up their line on the eastern coast.

The thing that sucked was the train that went Miami north got me to Orlando fine, but the train that came back down starting in PA or so was always 4-8 hours late.

 

[BoomerD]

24 hours? Ouch, a plane ride would have been what, a few hours? Don't you value your time, in this case an entire day, over ~$100-$200?

I did factor in the time...but, from where I live, the closest airport would have required my wife to drive me...and that involves either a 60 mile drive each way...or a one hour ferry ride each way plus about 25 miles of driving to/from the airport...then, I'd have had to rent a car to get from Sacramento, Oakland, or San Francisco to my final location...then take a city bus or taxi from the car rental place back to my house once I turned in the rental car.

just more hassle, time, and cost than was necessary.

 

[lupi]

And it may be about to get more expensive or less useful. Seems there is some fed law going into effect in october that shifts requirement to fund "smaller routes" from fed to the state, if the state wants to keep the route going.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I've never had a TSA problem and I bet I flew last year more than all of your idiots. Take your shoes off and empty your pockets into the bin. Half the time I went through the normal xray anyway. Big deal.

 

[God Mode]

Trains are for sadists with a romanticized view of things like scenery. It gets old after 30 minutes and you wish you took a plane instead.

 

[Murloc]

trains don't make much sense for trips longer than 6 hours without stops unless it actually costs less than the plane and has sleeping coaches.

 

[MrDudeMan]

I've never had a TSA problem and I bet I flew last year more than all of your idiots. Take your shoes off and empty your pockets into the bin. Half the time I went through the normal xray anyway. Big deal.

I don't understand why people are so angry about the TSA either. I've never felt violated or had a single issue. I've never seen it happen to anyone else and I fly a lot. On some level, I understand the foundation of the argument against the TSA, but outright hatred seems absurd.

 

[Phoenix86]

It never made sense to me why the train costed SO much more than air. Considering how much longer it takes you to get to your destination, one would think the price should reflect that.

More often than not the price of something is derived from the costs. Sure, some things have premiums attached but that's after the costs are covered...

In other words, just because it's slower doesn't mean it's cheaper.

 

[pcslookout]

I go Amtrak all the time.

 

[mistercrabby]

if it weren't for the gov't subsidies, it would be 5 times more expensive.