Amtrak

I have traveled numerous times between Washington D.C./Baltimore to Philadelphia, New York and to Rutland, Vermont. Even with a three hour layover in New York the train is faster than driving. I find it much preferable to driving. I arrive refreshed and not drained by having to drive 600 miles. On the train I have time to read, write or take a nap. Food on the train is all right ... not to be bragged about, but it is filling. Their coffee is good, Green Mountain Coffee. I love traveling by train. I cannot think of any disadvantages. Tell her to have a wonderful time.

 

I have made only one roundtrip on Amtrak, from Dallas to Little Rock in 1993. The day I got back was the day the feds sent tanks into the Branch Davidian compound, and many people died and Janet Reno was uttering her famous "The buck stops here" line.

Anyway, I discovered only on that trip that Amtrak typically runs well behind its printed schedule. Freight trains have the right-of-way, which is part of the agreement in 1971 that produced Amtrak; railroad companies ceded most of their passenger transport rolling stock to the government and their remaining business, freight, has right-of-way... meaning, Amtrak runs are frequently sitting there on a spur waiting for freight trains to pass. On my trip, we also had a mechanical problem that delayed us for an addtional hour and a half or longer. So, what would have been an auto drive of less than 5 hours was a train trip of about 9 hours. We were assigned a time to use the dining car-- 8:30 p.m., I think; more than 4 hours after departure, which was late by over an hour. While it was still light outside, we saw a lot of country, sure; but going through a town or city, it seems to be the worst parts thereof that you see-- old junky buildings, yards and houses. I remembered that someone has told me that "the train [Amtrak] takes longer than a bus and costs as much, or more, than a jet." That trip led me to think they were right.

On the positive side, I did enjoy the ride, as the seats were big and comfortable, and the gentle swaying motion makes it even more so. On the long mechanical delay, I reclined my seat and I think I did doze off for a little while-- unusual for such as light sleeper as myself. The food was good enough, and priced a bit higher than a comparable meal in a cafeteria.

So, my experience is limited and not really what you wanted to know about because it's not recent. But I doubt if Amtrak travel has changed a great deal in 18+ years, nor that my trip evaluation was very unusual, either.