Yes, there's a railroad track passing through my town, but my town is Washington DC, so that doesn't tell you much. It's more an issue of where I can get *to* for me. And, last time I did a comparison, traveling by train was barely cheaper than flying... however that was about three years ago, so I wouldn't be surprised to find that's no longer the case.

I love trains, from city subway systems to high-speed European railways. A lot of the things I appreciate most about train travel are mentioned in the article: being able to read, relax, eat and drink, and people-watch or socialize. Airplane travel isn't so bad once you're in the air, but with all the airport business at both ends, flying seems to take about as much time as driving for any trip under a thousand miles. And the bulk of that time is carting luggage around an airport, or standing in lines.

I do enjoy a good solitary road trip, with the feeling of being encased in my own private world, driving through whatever lovely scenery is at hand, with plenty of time to think, talk to myself, and listen to music. But this is only pleasant if A) there is no traffic and B) the scenery is actually lovely. For all other cases, or just when I feel like I'd like to have a little more contact with my fellow man, I think train travel would be a vast improvement over driving or flying.

However, now that I mention music, I think the American public would need to develop a working etiquette about private listening devices. Actually, we need to do that anyway. Actually, we need to develop a working etiquette about a lot of aspects of public behavior. Which I think is all tied in with the general preference of Americans for cars over trains and subways. Some people don't like riding trains because they want their own space to behave however they like in. Some people don't like riding trains because other people think they can behave however they like in public spaces, and it becomes obnoxious. But does such an etiquette need to be developed before rail travel can become a common fact of life, or does rail travel need to become a common fact of life before such an etiquette can be developed?

Anyway, I'm all for trains, and having more better trains between US cities. Hip-hip-hoorah and toot-toot!

Lirelyn


> I don't often do polls, except maybe here on RinkWorks. But Parade Magazine this morning had an article about the sorry state of rail travel in the US, and how an improved rail system would be a good solution to jammed highways and miserable air travel. You can read it at the link below. There is also a poll about government spending for rail travel.
>
> Personally, I'd like to have a rail system like we enjoyed 60 years ago. In those days, you could travel from any town with a track to any other town with a track, and do it in comfort and at low cost. Highways weren't much in those days, so even the "local" passenger trains were often faster than driving. Is there a railroad track passing through your town?
> Howard