Whoa, forget the train, folks check out this website. This is active??
True :D
Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
41–50 of 145 posts
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#42Delta has round trip flights from ATL->WAS for ~$800 TFA train round trip shows $306 without a private cabin. TFA already mentioned the time differences. The googs says it's 638miles doable in 9.5hours. Say an average of 20mpg at $4/gal (I have no idea what current rates are in that part of the country) needs 32gals for $128 one way or $256 to come back. Of course someone needs to drive it. The train definitely looks…
Like other commenters I was also confused at the "~$800" comment.
I tried this myself, picking a time a few weeks in the future (round trip April 15th to 22nd). Round trip as I'm assuming you'll want to go there and come home.
All of the following info is for ATL to Washington-Area airports (BWI, DCA, IAD). Amtrak is for Atlanta to Washington Union Station
Delta (20+ nonstop a day every 30min or so, ~2hrs flight time):
- ~$244->$304 Main
- ~$444->$504 Comfort+
- ~$769-$974 First
Amtrak (11:29PM->1:47PM, 14h18m):
- $356 Coach
- $1107 Private Room (Roomette)
I'm sure that a more accurate analysis would include a spread of days.
In general, this means that with the train you'd increase your travel time by ~26 hours round trip (over a whole day) while also paying ~$112 more.
(Note that the Amtrak website prices each leg independently while Delta prices round trip, I made sure to go all the way to the cart to gather the end pricing)
I was curious so I also did a trip much sooner (March 30th to April 6th):
Delta:
- $616-$665 Main
- $785-$800 Comfort Plus
- $1065 First (they were all priced the same)
Amtrak:
- $517 Main
- $1369 Private Room (Roomette)
So for a much sooner trip you do save ~$100 for the tradeoff of ~26 hours more time spent.
It's also worth noting that this route's travel occurs primarily at night, in the dark. This means both trying to sleep on a train as well as not being able to see much outside as it'll be dark most of the ride.
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#43> The train is still longer, and time is money, we are taught. But certainty has value, too, even if it means at 11:29 p.m. departure. Unfortunately this is misleading. Outside of the Northeast Acela corridor, there is no certainty in train travel in the U.S.. Although legally passenger trains are now supposed to have right of way over freight trains, in practice that’s just not the case. So a 14.5 hr train journey c…
Delays? What if you can’t buy tickets at all.
I was looking at Tucson to Seattle trip on a relatively short notice - all sleeping tickets were sold out multiple weeks in advance. And due to the length of the trip it’s not practical with non-sleeping seat.
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taking days to get to Chicago from Emeryville is all part of the fun of it. Enjoy the journey…
Spoken like one of the small percentage of Americans who can afford to tag on extra days to their PTO to enjoy a nice view.
I guess so. We took the girls when they were young to Omaha a few times from the Bay Area. I wasn't even sure passenger trains would be around when they were adults so wanted to give them that experience. I took a train between Kansas City and Chicago as a kid and found it magical.
So, yeah, the train ride was actually a significant part of the experience for those particular vacations.
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m curious if a classic starlings antenna works at 100-300 km/h with occasional rotation, or will it need to be mounted on a targeting motor on top of the train?
Works on planes at 1000km/h so should be fine on trains in the open countryside (not in tunnels of course)
Yes and the sats go a lot faster than 1000km/h anyway
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#46I’m hoping it won’t be necessary but, if TSA is fundamentally broken with an international transfer through Dulles I will seriously consider taking the train from a union Station to Boston. Honestly surprised how many TSA people are still working without pay. I wouldn’t in their shoes. Maybe if TSA just basically shutdown commercial aviation in the US it would lead to some progress.
Historically they've gotten backpay. Also they are trying to keep their jobs.
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#47Interestingly mixed usage of en dash and em dash across the article.
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#48Wow, netscape is still around
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#49Wow, netscape is still around
came here to post this!
Re: Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
#50> The train is still longer, and time is money, we are taught. But certainty has value, too, even if it means at 11:29 p.m. departure. Unfortunately this is misleading. Outside of the Northeast Acela corridor, there is no certainty in train travel in the U.S.. Although legally passenger trains are now supposed to have right of way over freight trains, in practice that’s just not the case. So a 14.5 hr train journey c…
> a 14.5 hr train journey can easily be delayed by several hours
It can easily be delayed a lot longer than that. The last time I took Amtrak I was delayed over 24 hours.