Originally Posted by
Adelphos
That is also why I included "travel times" in my title. Door to door, Acela generally takes longer many airline shuttle trips. From Connecticut, I can travel to LGA in 45 minutes, fly a 1 hour LGA to BOS flight, and get to my destination in BOS in 15-20 minutes. Acela is 3 hours and 30 minutes from CT. Yeah, maybe it is a more comfortable ride, but it does take long. Plus, if you have a bit of time, airlines may have lounges and such on either end (I know Acela has lounges too, but you have to buy a first class ticket).
The time-to-travel differential between Acela and airlines under perfect flying & driving conditions isn't part of the Acela value proposition. The people who choose to travel on Acela rather than fly are responding to a rational value proposition, just not price or time (when compared to a "perfect" airline journey including getting to and from the airport). The Acela value proposition people respond to includes comfort on the train vs plane; not having to wait in security lines; embarking/disembarking in city center of WAS, BOS, NYC; ability to talk on the phone, Zoom; relative insensitivity of travel time/disruption to weather or other external circumstances; etc. The people who spend more time & money to travel on Acela are perfectly rational.