richard

The other day I took the Acela from Union Station to Wilmington, Delaware. The cost for this 120 mile trip (two hours by car) is $95 each way.

If you do not know what your schedule is on the return, you are better off hopping onto the next available train they will let you on, either an Acela or Metroliner, so just buy the most expensive ticket in the first place if you are in a hurry.

They do not sell tickets on these trains so you have to have the right ticket when you board, and if you board an Acela and you have a Metroliner ticket, they will put you off on the next station and create problems for you over a $8 fare difference.

We saved five minutes taking the Acela over the Metroliner. If we had gone all the way to New York, we would have saved fifteen minutes.

For all of this, the Acela has some good points but mostly bad points. We took the Metroliner back to Washington so we were able to easily compare:

1. The Acela has overhead compartments with doors on them that are perfect for smashing into your head and getting a concussion.

2. The Metroliner has much more overhead room and has a shelf with netting that keeps your stuff from crashing down. Advantage: Metroliner.

3. The Acela has these heavy steel tray tables that precariously lean over onto your lap, and have too much unstable wiggle. The tables must extend too far towards you, cramping your style.

4. The Metroliner has regular tray tables that work. Advantage: Metroliner.

5. The Acela has seats that are like boards. No lumbar support, an adjustable cushion at head level that does not give you any back support which you really need. The Acela has cramped seats with rather poor pitch, only slightly better it seems than United's E+.

6. Metroliner has generous pitch and comfortable seats. Advantage: Metroliner.

Is anything better about the Acela? I suppose saving fifteen minutes or so is a biggie, although not so much on a trip that is almost 3 hours anyway. The trains look cooler. The cafe car is much more cool on the Acela, resembling a real lounge and meeting place where you can hang out.

Amtrak ought to be ashamed of how the conductors treat passengers (not all of them, but many of them), especially the unfriendly staff at the ticket counter at Union Station that make almost any other nasty organization you can think of seem postiviely friendly.

And Amtrak ought to be ashamed of the enormous price of these train rides.

Nevertheless, traveling from Washington to New York is probably better by train for most people (even people like me who prefer air travel over trains.)