Image by Flickr user andyiImage by 20090201-amtrak.jpg Most trains have dining and work areas similar to this.
Update February 4: The Post and Courier also did a photo gallery, but it was hiding. Here's the link.
First reporting:
Robert Behre has a good piece in today's Post and Courier about the experience of taking an Amtrak train to Charleston heading from the north.
A sample:
Barring any big delays, they were scheduled to arrive in Charleston about 14 hours later, just after 5 a.m. — about the same time it would take to drive, provided gas stops and other breaks would be kept at a minimum.
Theirs is the kind of trip being taken by a growing number of Americans — Amtrak's ridership has climbed for six straight years and now numbers more than 28 million annually — but it also would illustrate the challenges facing the government-owned passenger railroad as it chugs into the future.
Behre also mentions that Amtrak is looking to build a new stop in Charleston, as the current one is hard to get to, uninviting, and like walking into a time warp to the '60s.
I'm generally a fan of Behre's writing and find it pretty smooth and informative. His story is well worth a read.
- Oh, and there's a few things he overlooked (or didn't find worth mentioning):
- Most pairs of seats have at least one regular power outlet for you laptop, dvd player, or whatever.
- If you have a cellular wireless card, you'll get a pretty good Internet connection north of Richmond, but south of it you get a spotty connection and are connected maybe 60% of the time.
- Amtrak's routes from Charleston run pretty much north and south, it can be a logistical pain if you want to head to Atlanta (you're sent to D.C. then back down), to Columbia (down to Savannah then back up), or anywhere west.
- I really can't say enough about how much leg room there is -- if you were on a plane you'd think there was a row of seats missing.
- The rail in the Northeast is much smoother than in the South, even more so compared to the rails in South Carolina.
- Amtrak can be much cheaper than flying, and possibly driving solo. The smart consumer will break out the calculator. (On a recent trip I paid $89 each way to D.C., at the time a flight would have cost at least $400.)
- Also consider that many rail stops in larger cities connect you with the urban transit, meaning you can avoid paying for parking, rental cars, or a taxi.
- You can generally cancel/change you ticket without penalty.
- And, no invasive security screening!
- If you have a cellular wireless card, you'll get a pretty good Internet connection north of Richmond, but south of it you get a spotty connection and are connected maybe 60% of the time.
Looking at that, you'd thank I'm a fan of trains or something.
TheDigitel videographer, Geoff Marshall, did a great story and video last year which is also well worth a look if you haven't seen it already.