The surprising comeback of train travel

CNN Travel ^ | October 189, 2014 | Jareen Imam

[QT3.14]

It's been 21 years, and John Moore still eagerly leans against his passenger window to watch the landscape pass by as the train he commutes on every day roars over the Moodna Viaduct in Cornwall, New York.

The green hills and vibrant leaves just below the elevated track make the trestle one of the prettiest scenes on the 57-year-old's trip. For more than two decades, the senior business analyst has been traveling about 67 miles for work from his home in Cornwall to lower Manhattan. His total commute time is 2½ hours each way.

[GeronL]

As longer as taxpayers are paying the freight I guess

[gov_bean_ counter]

People have seen the light...

[Uncle Miltie]

Who was that choo choo maniac we had on fr back in the day? Man, he was fun...... Good times.

[BunnySlippers]

I love traveling by train but it’s too slow.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Sure, it’s great until some cowardly islamic terrorist scum blow the rails as the train approaches.

[svcw]

I love traveling by train.

[fatnotlazy]

Willie Green. Don’t know why people gave him grief. So he loved trains.

[Crazieman]

Willie Green I think.

[KarlInOhio]

For more than two decades, the senior business analyst has been traveling about 67 miles for work from his home in Cornwall to lower Manhattan. His total commute time is 2½ hours each way.

5 hours total commute per day. Just shoot me.

Fortunately it keeps him below the speed of 30 miles per hour at which his lungs would explode.

[svcw]

islamics like blowing up planes, or random shootings, or running people over in cars, or poisoning water supplies.

[Jeff Chandler]

Don’t know why people gave him grief.

For sport.

[fatnotlazy]

Trains are great if you have the time. You can see a lot of America you won’t see from a plane.

Trouble I have is the schedules are awful. Leave it to the government to mess up a good thing.

[johniegrad]

Willie is dead and long gone.

[Publius]

While the number of people who want to take the train has increased, Amtrak itself is dying. There is no leadership and no meaningful business plan. Current Amtrak management is more interested in maintaining the status quo than improving service or adding more trains. Their best man, a true quality control veteran, was forced into early retirement because he was asking too many pointed questions and rocking the boat.

I'm working on a model for privatization of Amtrak's operations outside the Northeast Corridor, but I've found it's impossible to get trustworthy numbers from Amtrak's published income and expense statements because Amtrak doesn't use generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP).

[COBOL2Java]

I love traveling by train but it’s too slow.

Using the train to get somewhere fast is not the point.

[Incorrigible]

Willie Green was sincere but easy to rattle; like a loose caboose!

He got so riled up one day that he literally asked Jim to take him out. (This was after multiple suspensions)

[fatnotlazy]

It was a rotten thing to do.

[Billthedrill]

Don’t know why people gave him grief.

Oh, well, Willie could get a little spun up on his pet topic. At some point people begin to press your buttons for fun around here. ;-)

[colorado tanker]

This guy is not a great example of a changing trend. Train commuting has always been popular in New York. The traffic is horrible and parking is off the charts. It makes a lot of sense in the densely populated Northeast.