Still Traveling

By Jeremy

May 28, 2008 7:58 AM | Link to this

I’ve looked into traveling via AMTRAK before, and the then-current cost and travel time made it less than appealing. It was often more expensive than flying, and took quite a bit longer. I imagine it would take a massive capital investment to make a train system on par with those seen in Europe and Asia.

I would use a regional train system to go from Midtown Atlanta to Savannah, Macon, Athens, Augusta, or Rome if such a thing existed. I’ve heard talk of a bullet train from Atlanta to Chattanooga, which I think would be great, too. The problem is, we’ve ignored trains for so long, that they’ve been relegated to non-viable; in other words, we’ve painted ourselves in a corner called the car.

By Dave

May 28, 2008 7:59 AM | Link to this

My wife and I have been taking Amtrak on our return trip from New Orleans for years. We book the private room with food and beverages included. The ride is a romantic day long excursion through the back country with beatiful views and scenic vistas. The food is good and you are allowed to take your own cooler on board - we bring snacks and alcoholic beverages. It departs The Big Easy at 7am and arrives in Atlanta at 7pm. A great day trip no matter what the price of gas is.

By Dave Miller

May 28, 2008 8:02 AM | Link to this

Living in Nashville.TN, I would like to be able to go to Atlanta ( ATL ) Fast, comfortable,less stressful, and away from the hassles of the airport and flying. A train from Nashville via Chattanoga to Atlanta, would be the ideal solution. The nearest train station to Nashville, is 250 miles away ( Atlanta or Memphis ) In this day and age, that is a disgrace.

By Jana

May 28, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this

I recently traveled on Amtrak to Washington, D.C. and back and would travel by train again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the only comfortable way to travel Amtrak is to go first class and book a sleeper cabin. But it’s well worth it.

By GeezGuys

May 28, 2008 8:16 AM | Link to this

I’ve traveled to D.C. by train and really enjoyed the trip. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t invest more in our rail systems, they’re more fuel-efficient and safer than other alternatives. Comfortable too. I’d love to take a long cross-country route and enjoy the scenery.

By Boclive

May 28, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this

It takes a little longer, but if you get the sleeper car you can spend the entire trip horizontal in your private bunk bed in your pajamas.

Compare that to flying.

By Sharon Stoned

May 28, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this

Is train travel an option?

Not when you have to ride with creatures like this, it isn’t:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eXNClwV5AM

By atlmom

May 28, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this

Of course, if our government spent what it spends on roads instead on rails, we’d be in a great position. Traveling by train in Europe was incredibly enjoyable, and we got to meet lots of great people as well.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen any time soon sigh. Especially in the south, where people are so in love with their cars. I don’t get it myself, but there you are.

By AutoFan

May 28, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this

I love driving/road trips. However, I would LOVE to be able to take a train almost anywhere in the country. The capital investment would be HUGE. But if the gov’t put the money used to bail out the airlines into passenger rail, it could pay for it fairly easily.
High-speed rail would be good regionally and also for cross country trips as there are vast streches of uninhabited or sparsly populated land in the middle of the country. It would allow for convenient leisure travel and allow airlines to focus on business and international travel. Unfortunately, there has to be a political will in this country to do something like this. Conservatives will not go for it unless the private sector pays for it and is profitable (hello? how much did Bush give the airlines?). Liberals will not go for it because building the rails could disinfranchise potential voters if the rails pass through poor economic areas. So, until someone tells both sides to shut up and just gets this done, rail will probably never happen in the U.S.

By RvW

May 28, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this

Yes, I’d certainly like to see a few new routes. The Nashville to Atlanta train would be a good one to have. I’d want to use that either to visit Atlanta or make connections to other trains there. The biggest problem is that rail roads have been downgraded to handle long slow freight trains. Upgrades to allow reasonably fast passenger travel would be expensive, but not even close to what it would cost to build a new freeway, or add lanes to old ones. Government should build the new higher speed capacity, and private companies could be allowed to bid to run the trains, including Amtrak, if it’s capable enough. New thinking is needed, time to brush away the dust and cobwebs of “la nostalgie.”

By Keith

May 28, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

Hi all — On my trips between DC and Atlanta, I found the sleeper car by far the best option. The coach seats are quite comfortable (much more so than coach airline seats), but the trip is overnight and the sleeper car lets you sleep uninterrupted when the train stops in Gastonia, NC to let someone on/off at 3 a.m.

I have always wanted to take the daytrip to New Orleans, though, and would probably do coach for that.

I would also definitely use a regional train system to get around the southeast if a system existed. But I think high-speed would be a necessity to travel cross country by trail (unless, of course, you’re on a leisurely vacation).

By BPJ

May 28, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this

Atlanta would benefit greatly from increased investment in passenger rail; we would be at the center of a network linking to (at least) Charlotte, Chattanooga, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Savannah, Macon, and Athens.

People usually object to rail by saying but from Atlanta to LA would take too long!. So, fly from here to LA. Rail travel makes sense for middle distance trips. The northeast is not the only place with sufficient population to support this. Other likely routes are a West Coast line from Seattle to San Diego (most people would fly if going from Seattle to San Diego, of course; but the train would work well for Seattle-Portland, Portland-S.F., etc.), a Midwest network centered on Chicago, a Southwest network centered on Dallas, and, yes, a Southeast network centered on Atlanta.

One benefit of such a rail network would be relieving the pressure for a second airport (want one near you?), or yet another runway at Hartsfield-Jackson (now that’s expensive). There are plenty of short flights (ATL-Savannah, ATL-Orlando, etc.) where rail would be a great alternative. I don’t mean that airlines would stop flying such routes, just that there would be fewer such flights (which are usually less profitable for airlines anyway) taking up runway space. So when we talk about the “massive investment” for improving our rail system here, let’s remember that we would otherwise be spending more on airport expansion.

I’m sorry to see a note of resignation in some of the comments, a sort of it would be nice, but what can we do? feeling. Look, there are lots of folks running for office right now - when they ask for your vote (and your contribution), let them know that your vote is not available unless they support increased funding for passenger rail and transit.

By Howland Owl

May 28, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this

Rail travel may become a necessity if and when the price of a gallon of refined fuel climbs to a projected $12-15 per gallon but as I predict this, the Georgia Southwestern Railroad is taking up the tracks between Columbus and Greenville, Ga, after abandoning the line. The big railroads do not want passenger trains on their routes as they get in the way of the more profitable freight trains, and this abandoned line ends within 45 miles of Lovejoy, where the Georgia DOT had planned to build a passenger rail system. When the rails are gone, one of two things will happen, the land will revert to the adjoining landowners or the public will clamor for yet another walking/bike trail. Once the rails are taken up, they’re never put back.

In the same vein, the city of Columbus bought 11 miles of track from Norfolk-Southern in 1999 with the intention of running a trolley service. Last month they announced that there would be no trolley “…Because we don’t know if anyone would use it….”

We certainly are not looking forward at all, are we?

By Kristen

May 28, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this

My soon to be husband and I are planning a fall trip on Amtrak from Sanford, FL where the auto-trains are, to D.C. We plan on taking the motorcycle on Amtrak, taking the train, spending a couple of days in D.C. and then riding home. It’s about $410 including 2 adult tickets, the motorcycle ticket, and a private room. He’s never been on a train so it sounds like the perfect thing to do. We’d spend that much in gas doing something else, so why not?

By jimbo

May 28, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this

It took six hours to get from Birmingham to Atlanta and the Amtrak station here is in a delightful part of town where you get to meet the most wonderful people. I could take a greyhound faster and cheaper and in better comfort than a train and that is pathetic.

By jimbo

May 28, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

Also, it’s my understanding that the way we regulate our trains keeps us from having high speed rail..

By Monica

May 28, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this

My family looked into taking Amtrak to Williamsburg, VA this summer. The problem was the 6 hour layover at 1am in the morning or we had to drive to Savannah and leave our car there for the week. It just wasn’t viable.

By Monica

May 28, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this

My family looked into taking Amtrak to Williamsburg, VA this summer. The problem was the 6 hour layover at 1am in the morning or we had to drive to Savannah and leave our car there for the week. It just wasn’t viable.

By Prootwadl

May 28, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this

I would love to take Amtrak to the Twin Cities from Atlanta, but direct routes simply don’t exist. In order to travel straight north, we’d have to go all the way to either DC or Charlottesville and then travel through Chicago, turning a 20-hour 1100-mile trip by car into a 38-hour 1700-mile affair.

It’s easier (and less expensive) to fly.

By nono

May 28, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

BPJ—

The west coast has had train service between Seattle and California for YEARS… I had the “distinct pleasure” of riding the train from Seattle to Portland, OR 5 years ago. It was about like riding on a Greyhound bus—sticky floors, not very comfortable, etc. and I’d never do it again. East coast trains are POSH compared to that run. If anything, not only do we need more routes, but those routes that already are established need upgrades to the trains to make them more palatable for passengers who rarely take the train—if there was a nice, clean, safe train from Atlanta to Nashville I’d take it in a heartbeat. There’s a metro-area-only commuter train service in Seattle with WONDERFUL, clean cars with modern amenities at each seat such as electrical outlets and wireless internet access. But outside of commuter area, the train cars on the west coast are dirty, smell of stale old popcorn and sweat. Thanks, but no thanks.

By ellis

May 28, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

When traveling by train, do you rent a car at the destination city?

By Stan G

May 28, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this

I took the train EVERYWHERE when I was in Europe.

Living on the west side of Atlanta train travel is JOKE. No trains - Marta basicly only has two lines - east west and north south within the perimeter.

I’d love to take a train from Villa Rica to my job at the Galleria but that would be 50 years from now if ever.

Long distance on AMTRAK is worse. I want to from Atlanta to Texas this fall. The trip would take over a day and the schedule routed me to Washington DC and Chicago.

Just like before the civil war, the North gets all the resources and the south gets diddly squat.

By JTW

May 28, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this

I’ve considered trying Amtrak to travel north to visit my family in Delaware. Atlanta -> D.C. -> Wilmington. Every time I consider it, I get hit with the following:

Plane Ticket: ~250$, 2 hr flight

Train Ticket: ~400$ coach, 16+ hr ride overnight

Ack??? Ummm, is there even a decision here??? You might be able to use the scenery as an excuse, except that most of the trip is in the dark. The sleeper car might not be bad, but that adds a LOT to the price.

We’re still using essentially the same Rail System that was in place in the early 1900s. Thanks to the ‘A Car in Every Driveway’ policy, our government virtually abandoned the use of Rail as an effective means of cross country travel. Now, the cost of overhauling the system and adding new rails pretty much insured that it will never happen…

I’d love to see a high-speed Magna-rail set up on the East Coast, connecting the major hubs… picture Atlanta to D.C. in about 2.5 hrs, N.Y. in around 4… Then we’d have a reasonable alternative to flying

By BPJ

May 28, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this

“nono”: I know many of the trains in this country are awful, and I’m not arguing that rail travel between most US cities is currently an attractive option. It’s a scandal that it takes 4 hours to go from Atlanta to Birmingham by train, while we can drive that in 3 hours; with the trains currently in use in much of Europe, that would be a 2 hour trip.

Rather, I’m arguing that we need a serious national committment to a sensible passenger rail system. For those who object to the cost, I begin by asking: what does it cost us not to? And for those who are saying they want good passenger rail, I ask: are you just posting on this blog? If so, that’s a waste of time, unless you also contact your elected officials. Contact your state legislators about transit, and state and federal legislators about interstate passenger rail. Do it now.

By CBL

May 28, 2008 2:12 PM | Link to this

We will probably never have anything like Europe’s rail system. European cities and towns are a lot more compact and dense than our sprawling suburbs due to their development during the Middle Ages, thus making those places easier to connect via rail today. There has been talk of Atlanta-Chattanooga, Atlanta-Athens and other regional lines cutting through suburbs on crowded freight rails to ease traffic congestion, but once the time comes to cough up the dough, the ideas are quickly deflated. There just wouldn’t be enough ridership to cover the costs. Heavy rail requires huge investment in infrastructure. Until the costs of air travel and driving (including fuel, time, and frustrations) add up significantly and our car-dependent mentality changes, rail travel in our country will be limited to nostalgic choo-choo train excursions or fragmented mass-transit systems like Marta or a novelty streetcar on Peachtree.

By JC

May 28, 2008 2:29 PM | Link to this

I think it is time we brought back the trains build new train termnials and revamp the ones that still stand. I’m a railroad brat both my parents and my Granddad worked for what is now Norfolk-Southern. We traveled to my Aunt’s house in St. Louis, MO. I would welcome that opportunity again. Before my dad married and bought a car he would hop on the train in Norcross and travel to Atlanta to work. We need these options today with gas going up more and more everyday and jobs moving farther and farther from the city. I say bring them back and open up more opportunities.

By Publicenemynumberon

May 28, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

Why would someone name a girl “Keith”?

By Keith

May 28, 2008 5:13 PM | Link to this

Publicenemynumberon wrote: Why would someone name a girl “Keith”?

Quick answer — typical Southern tradition of parents passing on family or last names to their children as first names.

Though it might seem strange the first time you connect Keith with the feminine gender, it was quite helpful when I worked in DC. Reporters instantly remembered Keith, the female Senate press secretary.

That said, my three girls all have traditional and decidedly feminine names. They will never witness others’ quizzical brows when they introduce themselves or receive letters reminding them to sign up for the selective service upon their 18th birthdays.

By Publicenemynumberone

May 28, 2008 6:13 PM | Link to this

Thanks for the reply, Keith.

I’m sure you husband gets a few looks when he talks about his wife Keith.

Keep traveling! (Or maybe that should be Still?)

By Keith

May 28, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this

No problem, Publicenemynumberone. I think my husband has gotten a few looks in the past over his wife’s name — but he seems to handle it well.

Oh, if anyone takes a train trip in the next couple of months, feel free to drop in and give us your thoughts on the blog. Happy traveling all!

By Angie

May 28, 2008 10:31 PM | Link to this

We already have plans on the train for our vacation. Was thinking of a long weekend driving trip but I think we are skipping that.

By GaryM

May 29, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this

I’d almost rather travel by train, but time is money and until my Company decided it’s an option, I guess I’ll still fly. We’re told that all these Airline surcharges are in response to rising costs, but they will never go away once started. The Airlines are like Politicians, they never met a fee or tax they didn’t like.

By Sarah

May 29, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this

My best friend takes the train often. Actually on our last vacation which was 2 weeks ago she took the train from Hartford, CT to Richmond, VA. It took her about the same time she would spend at the airport because she would have a layover and it was much cheaper to take the train. She only paid $139 roundtrip for her Amtrak ride - Flying cost over $350.

By Publicenemynumberone

May 29, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this

Took the wife and kids to see “Grandmom” in DC. Rode the train up, flew back. With the bedroom included it was exactly the same price as the flight. (About $600 each way). We got on the train around 7 and were in DC at 10 the next morning. Dinner and breakfast were included in the price. It was perfect and the staff was great. The room was just a little small for two adults and two kids (7 and 4), but I would do it again in a heartbeat. You have to book early for the bedroom, because they sell the first couple for one price and it goes higher as the rooms are sold.

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By anonymousella

June 2, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this

i regularly took amtrak from NY to DC in college. even though it took twice as long (3 hours vs 1 in the air), it cost half as much ($120 vs $250; $400 without the student discount).

i’d absolutely take the train in the southeast if it made sense to do so. unfortunately, it doesn’t. amtrak from ATL to the triad area of NC takes 8 hours. it takes 5 to drive and as little as 1.5 to fly (counting time spent at airport security).

even a statewide train system that connects atlanta to augusta, macon, savannah, and valdosta would be a start. but i dream of a viable regional system that connected atl to birmingham, charlotte and chattanooga. think of the boon that would be for business and people who could live in alabama and commute to the A without spending 2+ hours in traffic.

By Mick

June 2, 2008 5:25 PM | Link to this

We took Amtrak to Baltimore last Thanksgiving. It was a delightful experience. The staff on the train were really helpful and made us feel at home.

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June 3, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this

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By Ron

June 19, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Sharon Stoned, I believe that’s the DC subway you posted. Amtrak is nothing like that and quite spacious.

By Ron

June 19, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Sharon Stoned, I believe that’s the DC subway you posted. Amtrak is nothing like that and quite spacious.

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