Six Reasons Why Trains Are Better Than Planes.

Yes, I know that I’m preaching to the choir here, but I’ve discovered from the emails I keep getting that there are a lot of people reading this blog who have just started to consider train travel and are still unaware of why the rest of us choose to travel by train whenever possible. OK … here are six reasons why we do that.

1. No hassle. You pull up to the station, walk in, and when the train arrives, you get on. No lines, no security, no TSA. And, for all practical purposes, no limit on baggage.

2. More convenient.  Airports are always some distance from downtown, while railroad stations are almost always smack in the middle of downtown. So when you take the train, you leave from downtown and you arrive in downtown. And that leads nicely into reason number . . .
3. Less expensive. A cab ride from downtown Los Angeles out to LAX is $50-$60. It’s almost that much from JFK into Manhattan or from Chicago’s O’Hare into The Loop. And it’s the same for most airports. Add the cab fare to the cost of your plane ticket and suddenly the coach seat on Amtrak is probably going to be cheaper.
4. More comfortable. This is a no brainer. The cheapest coach seat on Amtrak is bigger and has more legroom than the typical first class seat on an airliner. And whenever the mood strikes, you can get up, walk around or go to the lounge car for some refreshment.
5. Something to see. I never get tired of watching the passing scenery, and it doesn’t matter of it’s in the industrial east or the great plains or the Rocky Mountains. It passes the time wonderfully.
6. Just as fast. OK, OK … not always. And I’m not suggesting you take Amtrak from your office in Boston to a business meeting in Denver. But between Boston and New York? Or Washington? Absolutely. And if you have to go from, say, New York to Chicago for a meeting, you can leave Manhattan in the afternoon and make a 10:00 meeting in Chicago the next morning. With your meals included and a bed provided as you go.

There are my six reasons … and I haven’t even brought up the fact that rail travel is better for the environment. Or the fact that you meet a lot of interesting people. But that’s for another time …

3 Comments

  1. This was my first trip overnight on a train. I loved it!! I am now a true believer. Since I am on vacation, being late for me is not a problem. There’s plenty of things to do to kill time. I have discovered that not all trains are equal, and that when I am in a sleeper, I get treated much better. Some of the staff treat coach people like riff raff and talk to them like they are bad children. My next sleeper is from New Orleans to S.A., Tx on the Sunset Limited. Looking forward to it! I’d recommend traveling by train to anyone. It’s been wonderful! Nice article, by the way

  2. I would almost always rather take the train than fly. Unfortunately, given the abysmal ontime performance of the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited this year (often 3-6 hours late into Chicago and almost never ontime, one really cannot take a train from the East coast to Chicago with any hope of attending a meeting upon arrival. I only recommend long distance trains to friends who are not on a time crunch and will be okay with delays. You have to be ready to just chill and enjoy the scenery.

  3. There are far more than 6 and you mentioned a couple of others that I also thought of – energy efficient and environmentally friendly. For me, it is also about the geography – the sense of actually traveling far and understanding what is between here and there. You feel like you actually went someplace rather than just spending a couple hours in an aluminum tube.

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