What is the state of train travel in USA?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 23 Jul, 2023
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Three more points: some routes do not allow bicycles, and those that do have four spaces. If you happen to be the fifth to arrive, your bike will not go.
And many stations do not allow checked baggage, which includes bikes. So, for example, you can’t take a large suitcase to or from Waterloo, which is the closest stop to Fort Wayne.
Some stations have no building. Since the trains are generally late, it can get mighty uncomfortable waiting three hours outside in the middle of the night (BTDT).
Train travel in the US in general sucks rocks; either it’s very inconvenient or it’s very expensive.
However, it’s almost always worth stopping by the amtrak.com website to check out the intercity pricing and schedules. Some routes are subsidized by state governments, which make them inexpensive, and occasionally more convenient, than air or bus travel.
There’s no question: hands-down, train travel in the US is more luxurious than bus travel. Air is usually the cheapest for long distances. And if you’re considering car rental, remember that a) you’ll pay a lot of money if you’re under 25, and b) gas prices are dirt cheap here by most people’s standards.
Rail is only really practical in the Northeast part of the USA between big cities like Boston, New York, Chicago and Washington DC. In the Southwest and South Central parts of the country very few people would even consider traveling by train. First, this is a very big country so it takes a very long time to travel by any land based transportation, secondly there aren’t many hubs down here so you will often be forced to take a circuitous route if you want to travel between Southern cities.
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I’d suggest you start with reading the Seat61 page on Train Travel in the USA. That’ll tell you about the main routes, the main trains, general timings and prices etc.
As a general rule, most big places on the east and west coast can be visited, but only certain ones inland (in other cases the appropriate lines have closed). For long distances, the trains are normally slower than an equivalent european one, and don’t run as frequently.
There are a few areas with the kinds of frequency and speed you get in Europe, but they tend to be along the east coast (such as Boston – New York – DC)
For information and geographical accuracy, you probably want the Seat61 Map, but the official Amtrak one will give you an idea of roughly where you can travel:
Amtrak Map http://www.zachshaner.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Amtrak-Pocket-Map.jpg
Cameron Booth made a subway style map of the Amtrak routes.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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