CPRich

It depends on the trip, but I've the tried train up and down the east coast and NYC-BOS is the only one I've taken regularly. Our office in BOS is about 2 blocks away - I can walk out of a conference room about 25 minutes before departure and have plenty of time. And NYC is just a quick subway hop away - much easier than cabbing it to BOS and in from LGA.

I've traveled NY to DC many times and the plane is faster unless there's bad weather. If you're spending two hours in the airport, the equation may change, but you're also wasting a whole lot of pointless time. You can skew the equation the same way by adding 75 minutes for the train trip. I can almost always be through TSA and to the gate in 20 minutes from arriving at the airport, so 45 minutes is what I usually plan for.

yyznomad

Like others... airline status and believe it or not, sometimes it's just more convenient!

Peregrine415

I prefer to take the bus or train if I'm not pressed for time. Otherwise, I usually do a straight day trip on the shuttle. Or a combination of bus/train to New York and then the last evening flight out of JFK (B6 or AA) on the return. I rarely sleep in New York since hotels are about the same price as or more than a walk-up fare on the shuttle.

KNRG

Just be happy you can take a train. The residents of Florida have tried countless times to get a rail option (admittedly we're fond of "mono" rails) that connects Tampa, Orlando, and Miami.

SDF_Traveler

Too many places with no train / rail / lightrail services here in the US. Heck, we can't even get an additional bridge, let alone two, built across the Ohio River, which we needed years ago.

I've heard friends in TPA talk of Florida building a rail line built to connect TPA/MCO/MIA for not only pax/tourism usage, but for use in hurricane evacuations. I don't know the details or politics behind it, but if there is one area that can use such service, the I-4 corridor should be high on the list given the state of I-4 usage.

At one point there was Amtrak service from Louisville to Chicago - not sure if it still exists, but it was a 12 hour trip. SDF-CHI (ORD or MDW) is a 1 hr flight & you can drive CHI in 6 hours (depending on wx and traffic). I always fly it and come out ahead except during winter irregular ops, in which case the roads won't be much better (esp having to drive via northern Indiana w/lake effect snow).

The state of public transport in this country is pathetic - if this new administration is going to spend money on infrastructure to help spur the economy, I think we need to take a serious look at public transport with city to city high speed rail links (plus upgrade our outdated ATC system). Projects like these would spur all types of jobs compared to a standard "roadworks" project.

There are only a handful of cities that have excellent public transport systems & there are many cities with public transport systems that can be improved through lightrail systems.

magiciansampras

Have you ever taken Amtrak? Not the most reliable service in the world. It's real fun to be stuck for 4 hours in Connecticut with an engine breakdown, let me tell you.

TMOliver

Not in the Northeast but....

With no trains and little in the way of public transport to airports, my alternatives are my car or shuttle vans. DFW is 2:45 by shuttle (2:20 by car) with only a few trips to/fm each day by shuttle, with none to IAH (3:15 by car). Counting parking fees, gas or the shuttle fares, for many if not most destinations, airfares are actually as cherap or cheaper, plus I'm 8 minutes and no traffic or stoplights from the airport, free parking and short lines at security (allowing arrival at the terminal 35 minutes before flights).

alanw

I've only flown BCN-MAD once since the AVE started running (and that was a requal flight; I didn't actually need to be in MAD). Counting travel time to the airport vs. the station nearest my house, it takes almost exactly the same time to go from home to the center of Madrid. On the train I have a roomy space to spread out and work, a 3G connection the whole way, a real meal, and zero security hassles. And it costs me about the same.