cross-posted from: https://lemmy.skoops.social/post/727
crossposted: https://lemmy.skoops.social/post/665
Oh boy...
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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In the US people will argue it's quicker to fly or drive than take the train then show up 2 hours early to be sure to make it through check-in and TSA security to be sure to make their flight on time. Then waste another hour waiting for luggage
Don’t forget the 45m-1hr travel time to and from airports.
And if you live in New York good luck with that. It's more likely you're going to have a 2-hour travel time to the airport.
I was so pissed that the only affordable option to get to Bushwick from the airport was a shitty bus that ran late and was packed.
BUILD A TRAIN TO YOUR GODDAMN INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT HUBS
Only if you mean that point B is the gigantic parking lot where you still have to walk 15 minutes to the Walmart.
Even without the check-in and security it is typically faster to fly (or drive) the places people typically go on a plane in the US.
The problem is that the railways are prioritized for freight traffic first, so the commuter train traffic takes a looooong time. My understanding is the freight movement by train is better in the US whereas the commuter train movement is better in Europe.
For example, I live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. To travel to Chicago by different methods is:
This is de facto true. But, the law is that passenger traffic gets priority. It's just not enforced because the companies have more power than the government is willing to spend on this issue.
Thanks for calling this out. I had forgotten about that bit.
It would be true. Trains are next to non-existent in the US.
I live near Acela, which is not high speed, not cheap, and does not have enough capacity but is also the only part of the US with convenient intercity rail. I would never fly or drive when I can take this train, but outside of Acela ……
Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that there are major cities in the US without passenger trains. Not just lacking inter-city rail, trams, etc., but literally no train stations for people.
Columbus, Ohio has a metro area of 2.1mill people. And if they want to take the train to NYC, they first have to take a three hour bus ride to Cincinnati. As they tore down their last passenger train station over forty years ago.
I was about to call you out for this, until I remembered the six hour bus rides I used to have to take from Columbus to Akron when I was in college (less than two hours by car, natch).
And that's just the people who live nearby. For the 1mill people who live outside the city proper, there's probably another hour or two of travel and wait before the bus sets off.
You can thank John Kasich for that. IIRC DeWine's admin is doing a feasibility study of doing the "Three C" route Obama tried to fund
Does Cincinnati still have its one train a day at 2am or some other ungodly hour? Or are they on the “three trains a week” schedule?
I'm inside the 275 loop in Cincinnati but can't get downtown without getting a ride in a car to a bus station. At that point, might as well just use the car to get downtown. Or to wherever else I'm going. Train travel is WAY too slow in the US. I've never had a vacation longer than a week, I'd barely be arriving at anywhere interesting and I would already be due back at work.
I think it's daily now but yes, still at like 3am. Used to be a few times a week.
Lol I used to take Amtrak back and forth between Philly and DC. Once I decided to check out if an Acela ticket would be worth it - it was like three times the price and got there a whopping 10 minutes sooner.
The Acela is worth it going to NYC and further north. Every town in Connecticut apparently still has an Amtrak stop (which is cool, but goddamn). Compare the travel times of the Acela and Amtrak between DC and Boston.
Yeah, I've been using trains for travel in the northeast lately.
It's less travel time, there's no ridiculous security theater, and I don't get these nickel and dime charges for checked bags.
I did enjoy taking Amtrak between Philly and DC a few years ago - as long it wasn't raining, that is.
I'm fairly resilient to uncomfortable travel unless it's actively painful like ear popping sometimes, so I usually just choose on price and speed most of the time.
I'm sure the US will make train travel the same grueling experience as they made air travel
Yeah I took the train from Chicago to Springfield, and was shocked that I had to go through security and also present the same credit card that I used to buy the ticket. In Europe I literally just get on the train most times...
Not to mention you're lucky if you don't have to take a connecting flight to get where you're going, which adds a few more hours at least. But at least it gives you more opportunities to eat that delicious, healthy and inexpensive airport food!