Quote Originally Posted by Irulan View Post
still, it's a chicken/egg scenario. Most people still aren't going to take the train until it becomes cheaper than flying or driving to do so. Or, in some cases more convenient. The Amtrak for my city, coming in from the other major hub, is two in the morning.

You're still lucky. My Amtrak is a three hour drive away, leaving at two in the morning, and then a transfer within two hours with a two hour layover.

And even point to point, it still takes twice as long as driving. I really really want to take the train, but it's such a freakin' hassle ... when we drove 10 hours to the auto train there was a visit with relatives on the way, so it wasn't a total waste, but I don't think we'll do that again. It's more comfortable to sleep on a plane. In coach. Not kidding.

What we really need is commuter trains. Trains for long hauls probably won't happen any time soon and may never be practical in the USA, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be able to hop on a train to go see my Bengals, or the Cleveland Orchestra, just f'rinstance. That shouldn't be as far-fetched as it apparently is in today's world.