I took a very short ride on the Acela when it first came out, WAS-BWI. One way. I was late for a flight, and the commuter MARC train was running late. I believe the ticket was around 32 dollars (MARC is 8.75 RT).

I spent the entire 29 minutes? in the diner car, no food was ready to sell, and the regular car was packed to the gills with a bunch of suits. We overshot the platform at BWI and everyone had to go thru 3 cars to disembark. Only thing I liked was the counter in the diner and the TV with sports on. I think the Acela is waaaay overrated. I did take a regular Amtrak train RT WAS-NYP a few months ago, and it was very comfortable. Most people had two seats to themselves; I was travelling off-peak hours. I got a lot of sleep.

You are so right, richard, those people at the ticket counter at Union Station are nasty! That's why I've been using the self-service machines for the past two years.

Linda