When I am in countries that have a rail system I am normally delighted because it is such a relaxing and wonderful way to travel especially if you are not in a hurry. The extra space, the dining cars, the relaxed level of security and not being treated like cattle all the time. These are really wonderful parts of a relaxed lifestyle and I really enjoy it when I am in other countries.
However, when I am in the USA I wont even consider using passenger rail, because outside of a couple dedicated passenger lines such as the one between New York City and Washington DC, everything about the trip, unfortunately, it just terrible.
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The US train service called Amtrak really does try their best and the reason why it sucks really doesn't have a lot to do with them personally. But there are a lot of reasons why train travel in USA is just awful.
The main reason is the time it takes. Almost all of the rail systems in the USA are owned by freight companies, so any time a passenger train is on the same line as an incoming freight train, the Amtrak train has to "pull over" and wait for the freight train to pass. I have experienced this on all the train rides I have taken in the States except for the night train from NYC to DC, which must be a dedicated passenger line for it to move so fast.
But herein lies another problem. Even on that one functional line, it never really gets up to a high speed.
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Other places in the world like Japan and places in Europe have bullet trains that are remarkably fast. We simply cannot do this in the states even if we wanted to because the rain infrastructure is extremely outdated and because there are almost no dedicated passenger rail lines. The USA has one of the most extensive rail systems in the world but it is outdated and owned almost entirely by freight, which is guess is also important but it is the main reason why I will never use Amtrak again.
The next big problem is that Amtrak is expensive. I once was looking at a trip from Los Angeles to Chicago and not only was it going to take more than a day to get there by train, but it was going to cost MORE than a flight that takes a few hours.
Sure they try to sell you on the scenic bits through the mountains and that is great and all, but will this stay interesting after you have been looking out the window for more than a day?
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There's also reports about the wifi being infuriatingly unreliable to the point of uselessness so if you were thinking you could turn this expensive and long-as-hell trip into a time to get some work done, you can forget about that as well.
Honestly, there just isn't much reason to use the passenger rail system in USA at all and this is a real shame because it is so enjoyable in other parts of the world. The USA was a pioneer in developing the global notion of rail yet they have fallen so far behind almost everyone. When Laos has a high speed rail system but arrogant California does not, what does that say about the people in charge of this sort of thing.
There really isn't anything that Amtrak can do about this either. The company has operated at a loss since it started in 1971 and they are quite open about the fact that they expect to lose about $1 billion per year. The only reason why there is any Amtrak at all is because the government subsidizes it. If I was in charge I would just let it fail and someone could move in and build something profitable.
There are routes that are profitable on the Amtrak map such as something called the Northeast Corridor which generates $200 million in profit a year. However, this profit is easily consumed by the long-haul routes that almost nobody uses and cost a ton to operate. A company that had to make a profit would eliminate the routes that don't make money and well, that's what I think should happen. If the only way a company can stay open is if the taxpayers are paying for it, then that company should close. If we are hanging onto it purely out of nostalgia, it is time for us to move on.
If profitability was required to keep going, I think we would see things improve rapidly even if that means cutting out the stations in middle-of-nowhere Arkansas in the process.
If you are traveling in the USA don't get fooled into thinking that Amtrak is a viable alternative to flights, it definitely isn't and you will regret this move probably about the time you are 6 hours late arriving because you had to pull over to let a 12 mile long freight train moving at 20 miles per hour go by.