TrueStoryBob
Most folks going the full two day journey are in the sleeper cars. The Roomettes are Amtrak’s two person sleeper accommodations and they’re pretty nice (there are larger accommodations available, but the Roomettes are by far the cheapest and most common). There’s also meals included in the sleeper car price and the food on Amtrak is actually not too bad. If you’re traveling alone (or in any amount of people less than four) the dining car attendant will seat you with folks you don’t know, there’s tons to talk about. Lots of people, whether in the sleepers or in coach, bring books and have their tablets or laptops filled up with movies and series. My last trip up to DC I had saved a bunch of podcasts to listen to and finished Dan Simmons “Hyperion” series while I rode.
if it actually ran at an acceptable speed.
So, a train service between Chicago and Miami via Washington DC (as Amtrak’s Floridian will take) is just about 1700 miles (about 2700 km). It would take a train traveling at about 235 mph (378 kph) to meet that seven hour target with zero stops along the way. There’s maybe five train services in the world that even get close to that operational speed and they all travel between cities that are like 250 miles (about 400 km) apart.
Do we need high speed rail in the USA? Yes, absolutely. Is a high speed rail route between Miami and Chicago viable? No, not really. (Edit: my phone keeps auto correcting “it” and “is” to “it’s”)
I guess… I am the target market… I take Amtrak from Savannah, GA to Washington DC (about 12 hours) to visit family at least once a year. This new route is basically the same service, but instead of terminating in NYC, it now goes to Chicago (two other trains still follow the route up to NYC). It’s much more comfortable than the bus and way cheaper than flying; it’s usually about $100-120 for a coach seat round trip. Now that I can get a one seat ride all the way to Chicago, because I’ve never been, right now I’m planning a trip there next spring once I get my tax return.
Do they not sell kids joke books in the check out line at the grocery store anymore? Used to be tons of those.
No, you ignorant fool… they needed more scorned establishment Republican figures to support her. Liz Cheney wasn’t powerful enough, that much is clear now. The absolute genius of having our vehemently pro-choice candidate on stage accepting the endorsement of rabidly anti-abortion figures almost payed off. It’s the voters who were wrong!
It’s almost as though -maybe, just maybe- the people who are registered Republicans like the Republican Party.
For this groundbreaking insight, I’ll take my $20k/month consulting fee from the DNC now.
