The benefits of Amtrak

I needed to travel from New York to Pittsburgh and back recently and I decided to take Amtrak instead of flying.  An Amtrak ticket costs $126 round trip.  Flying would have cost me about $250.  I made the decision to use Amtrak in order to save money, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed my trip.

Here are some of the reasons I would choose to travel by train again:

1. It is much easier to get to the train station than to the airport.  This is true not only in New York, where Penn station is right in the middle of Manhattan, but also in Pittsburgh and many other cities such as Philadelphia and Washington DC.  I saved about 30 minutes of travel time by not having to go to the airport.  Also, the subway in New York goes directly to Penn Station, so there are no extra costs involving taxis or the AirTran.

2. I arrived at the train station 10 minutes before my train was to depart.  No security.  No check in.  Just get on the train and get out your book.

3. You can put your tray table down immediately.

4. There are plugs for your laptop, cell phone charger, etc.

5. Massive amounts of leg room.

6. A dining car with a cafe and also tables where you can spread out a bit and do some work if you want to.

7. Half the cost of flying.

8. You can go to the restroom whenever you want to and you don’t have to wait for the fasten seat belt sign to turn off.  Also, the restrooms are three times as large as airplane restrooms.

9. The environment on the train is conducive to thinking, reading, and writing.  I felt like I used my time on the train very well in terms of getting things done.  I hardly ever feel that way when I fly.

10. The whole experience feels vastly less stressful than flying. It is almost relaxing to take a train ride.

The down side, of course, is that the trip takes longer than flying.  The flight from New York to Pittsburgh is 90 minutes, while the train ride is 9 hours.  The true time required for flying, however, must include the time spent getting to the airport, the time at the airport (you are supposed to arrive an hour or more before your flight) and the greater likelihood that inclement weather will delay the flight. In my estimation, flying from New York to Pittsburgh would take about 4 hours in total. In addition, only 90 minutes, at most, will be useful work time.

The insight for me was that time spent travelling does not have to be wasted time.  Comparing 4 hours flying vs. 9 hours by train makes it seems like travelling by train wastes 5 hours.  In reality you should compare 4 hours flying vs. 9 hours confined to a comfortable space with your laptop, books, papers, and no distractions.