So how many now are taking the train instead of flying?
 

I had already started taking train trips more often than flying, but now I'm really avoiding flying. If I have to go anywhere in France, Germany, Switzerland Belgium, the Netherlands and ESPECIALLY England, I take the train now. I may start to add more countries to that list.

I've got a frequent traveler card for the Eurostar, SNCF and the Thalys. I've already redeemed several free first class tickets. The trains are more aggresively marketing to business travelers who would otherwise take a flight. I think the airlines have lost a lot of short-haul revenue that they may never get back.

I would take the train if it were an option.

I bet Amtrak's business is booming in the Northeast. Now is a bad time to start up a new DC-NY Shuttle. I wonder how long the market can support three shuttle carriers.

10 hours Los Angeles to Oakland via Sacramento on a line notorious for running several hours behind schedule vs. 1 hour flight to SFO? No thanks :D

I really REALLY wish the bureaucracy would die and let TGV-esque trains develop between LA, SF, San Diego, Vegas, and Phoenix.

Not me - but then only commuter trains within several hundred miles of where I am, and the security is painless for domestic travel.

AMTRAK to Portland will replace flying (anywhere) for my next get-away.

I kinda would consider it too but the problem is that I'd have to spend 2 hrs on a train just to get to a transfer point (LAX station) to go elsewhere in this country via train.

Even w/ security and crap, it's faster to fly.

I'm guessing this question was aimed towards European residents in particular, since the trains are actually a viable option for many of us here.

Stimpy, to answer your question, I will do my usual FRA-ZRH or vv. run by train rather than flying from now on. The one exception will be an existing r/t ticket I booked before this mess started.

Since there are currently no new restrictions for domestic and intra-European flights in and ex Germany, I'm not planning any changes. However, I will not visit the UK or transfer through there as long as the current restrictions are in place.

From MUC, a train to the UK is no real alternative, so for me, the UK simply doesn't exist as a travel destination anymore.

Are you aware that sometime next year the TGV will reach Frankfurt? You could take the ICE to Frankfurt, then the TGV to Paris. Perhaps stop for a nice dinner in Paris before heading to London the next morning. That is how I would do it. The Paris-Strasbourg-Frankfurt run is supposed to be at 350Kph I believe.

The TGV already goes to Zurich so that is another alternative. Sure it takes longer than flying, but it's FAAAAAR more relaxing and dignified. Most trains now have power ports in first class so you can keep your laptop going and get work done. Sometimes I even hop on WiFi if we are stopping at a station for 5 minutes or so. I upload the mail I wrote so far and download new ones. I know the TGV and ICE are working on high-speed internet for their trains so they can steal away more customers from airlines.

This might indeed be a nice alternative for a private weekend trip. Of course, from my village, I need 2 ugly regional trains to get to MUC main station in the first place.

As for business travel, it's a no go, as I'd need to be there and back much faster. So as of now, I simply don't do business in the UK, anymore. I'll happily leave that to others.

Ironically, the volatile situation (who knows what else the TSA and their counterparts will come up with in the next weeks, months and years?) has lead me to abandon all my loyalty to airlines, alliances and FFPs. I'll substantially reduce (by more than 50%) my paid flights next year, I'll always pick the most convenient airline (like the one with the least connections) regardless of status/bonus miles and alliances, and I'll make use of my remaining 1.4 million bonus miles in order to pay for most of my premium travel. In a wicked way, the security theater, water ban, shoe carnival, end of Connexion and whatnot is quite liberating. And quite a money-saver, too.

For domestic Korea, I take a train as opposed to flying.

The Seoul to Busan train takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The flight is an hour but the commutes to and from Gimpo and Kimhae airport (versus train stations in the middle of Seoul and Busan), plus having to get to the airport early make the total travel times similar.

When they make the line between Daegu and Busan high speed rail, it should cut the total trip time to a little over 2 hours or so.

In answer to the OP: In Europe, I definitely choose trains over flying. I have avoided flying intra-Europe even before all the extra security hassles. The reason: the European airlines' draconian restrictions on carry-on luggage.

On my last trip to Basel, Switzerland (from Japan), instead of changing planes somewhere and taking an intra-Europe flight to Basel, I just flew into FRA and then took the train from there to Basel. I then visited Bern for a day and then had to go to Paris, so I just took the TGV from Bern to Paris. Then returned to Japan direct from CDG.

Ironically, in Japan I have no trouble with domestic flying and even prefer flying over the shinkansen (bullet train). But anyone who has flown in Japan knows that Japan has the world's best air transport system. Tokyo's Haneda Airport, despite being the world's 4th busiest airport, is easier to use than, for example, Omaha! There are never any lines for check-in or security, boarding is a snap, flights are almost always on-time, and airline and airport employees are uniformly gracious, professional, and cheerful. It is an absolute paradise compared to the air transport system of the US.

I am. I took Amtrak down to Washington for a conference earlier this week. It was easy and comfortable. ^

Amtrak can't be as efficient in CA as it is in the Northeast corridor because....?

done two trips recently on ICE to basel, was pretty impressed with the service and speed. best thing, our company policy requires Y travel by air for intra-europe flights, but allows first class on trains over 2 hours.

Because it doesn't own the tracks, so it's at the mercy of freight company dispatchers.

But even if it did own the rails, population density and local transit connections and utilization are lower in California cities than in NEC cities. A trip from downtown Manhattan to downtown Philadelphia is not comparable to one from "downtown" San Jose to "downtown" Los Angeles; fewer people are starting or ending in either of the latter downtowns and they're probably going to drive.

The topography of the state also makes building high-speed lines on the most direct (coastal) route from San Francisco to Los Angeles cost-prohibitive, fiscally and politically/environmentally. The proposed new high speed lines all swing through the Central Valley, which adds even more time to the trip.