thinkingtoilet 2 days ago

It depends. I take the Amtrack from Albany to Chicago once a year or so because I hate flying. It's maybe an hour or two slower than driving and that's with a lot of time built in to the schedule for delays. The last time I took it We left Albany 45 minutes late and still made it on time to Chicago. Yes, delays happen, just like in traffic or at the air port, but I find the focus on delays when Amtrak comes up extremely over-stated. Perhaps it's just the routes I'm on.

  • guappa 2 days ago

    Wow you take the train once a year, certainly there's nobody more qualified than you to speak about them!

Gud 2 days ago

If you have all the money in the world, why would you need to go fast? Just enjoy the ride in comfort and style.

  • antonkochubey 2 days ago

    Private rail car is nowhere near as comfortable as actually getting home quickly, especially you have the kind of home that people with all the money in the world do.

    • bluGill 2 days ago

      Many people with money travel so much home is a hotel. They 'have a large manson that the staff says is nice' isn't quite the truth but it isn't far off.

      though they also don't have time to take a slow train.

      • ghaff a day ago

        Even if you travel a lot and just have one home, spending a lot of time on luxury travel can still get old.

      • defrost 2 days ago

        Perhaps more of a European mega-rich habit, not especially applicable to the US, is the practice of just taking the mansion, helicopters, and cars with you on a super yacht.

        * https://theitalianseagroup.com/

        * https://benettiyachts.com/

        * https://www.sanlorenzoyacht.com/

        • guappa 2 days ago

          I'd forbid those things in territorial waters. They bring no money to local communities and are glad to do things like ignore nature reserves or go with motor boats where people are swimming, which is of course illegal but they don't care.

    • Gud 2 days ago

      FWIW I am away from home ~300 days a year for work and I have the choice of any mode of transport.

      I prefer train any time.

    • Gud 2 days ago

      And for some, the journey is the destination.

    • TylerE 2 days ago

      For the people that own these cars, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

bobthepanda 2 days ago

It depends on the route and the distance.

For example, Portland to Seattle isn't that far but I-5 can easily back up and become an hours-long ordeal, and SEA and PDX aren't particularly close to a lot of places.

  • bombcar a day ago

    Traffic jams have become so much easier to handle with lane following and down-to-zero adaptive cruise control.

    A backlog of hundreds of hours of podcasts doesn’t hurt.

    Still would prefer the train.