Chuck S

Amtrak is alive and well along the Northeast Corridor (where it owns much track) which runs as far south as Norfolk VA and well north of Boston. Intermodal is not great but a couple of rail and air terminals are co-located (Baltimore?). Most of the Amtrak stations lack rental cars as well. I'm guessing the West Coast is similar. New England to Florida has several trains a day as well as the AutoTrain from DC to Orlando. This all seems like classic supply and demand with emphasis on the demand. But that seems about it.

Just looking at Richmond (where I am) there used to be named trains running daily to places as far away as New Orleans, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. And there were, of course, daily trains from New York City to California. Can't get there from here these days without changing trains at least once with long waits for connections. If getting there is half the fun -- or you're tired of being treated like cattle by the airlines -- look at Amtrak.

My one and only Amtrak experience was an overnight sleeper from Richmond to Tampa. Wonderful experience. Good night's sleep, meals as better than the airlines, no cattle chutes or TSA, no changing planes in Atlanta or Charlotte.

-- Chuck

tof

It has been said that the difference between Americans and Europeans is that Europeans think 100 miles is a long way and Americans think 100 years is a long time.