For going from one city to another ?
I have never heard /seen anyone using railway for going to other city. They either travel through plane or by car.
Is US railway that bad ?
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
Yes.
Mstly older ppl. Its very expensive to travel by train.
And off course very beautiful too.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
It is not a very popular method of travel because this isn’t the fastest way to travel (except for 150 mph Acela trains between Boston, New York and Washington DC) and you usually need to buy your ticket in advance. Also it is not the cheapest method of travel either. Timekeeping can’t always be relied on, since most trains operate over tracks owned by freight railroads and don’t always have priority. Some trains only run once a day and they may not stop where you want to go.
One Pakistani friend came to my city via train from NY, somehow he got a cheap ticket , when he wanted to go back I dropped him off at the train station. And since train was running very late I said good by and went on to take care of my business of the day. After a couple of hours he called me to pick him us because his train got canceled and was supposed to come the next day same time. 
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
well many ppl do,, its some time cheap and definitely much safer than buses.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
Well it;s not convinient - because after you get into a city - you have to rent a car to get to your destiantion - it's not like europe where everything from residential to commercial places are connected via trains or subway (unless you are in the bigger cities NYC, Boston, Chicago)
So it's much more convinient and cheaper to drive a car.
I do like the Acela however - it is very convinient to travel up and down the east coast and covers all big cities from DC to Boston
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
I only traveled couple of times between Princeton Junction and NYC (I have used bus couple of times too, but mostly I traveled via car). My father travels a lot if he travels to Boston or to DC.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
My mother has taken the amtrack several times from chicago to my town and she really enjoys it. The seats are spacious and very comfortable. They do have a problem of running late though, sometimes by 3-4 hours but atleast you can find out before going to the train station so you arent sitting their waiting the whole time.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
I lived on the Amtrak system for a whole month - meaning I brought a monthly saver ticket and I started in Vancouver, Canada and made my way all around major cities in the US. You need a little bit more then a month to do it, I went around around west coast, mid-west, east coast right up to NY, from where i flew to London. It was an awesome experience. I stopped off at every single major city, whenever i wanted to, explored for about two days, then jumped back onto the train. I tried to spend as many overnights on the train to save on hostel bills. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! Met loads of people, railroad is beautiful, especially travel from Las Vegas through the railroads caved out by chinese labourers many years ago. And oh, the rocky mountains.... the rocky mountains! Beautiful!! As far as I know the rail road is quite popular. I videoed my whole journey!
I've travelled on Amtrak a lot when I visited the US East Coast. However I did notice that most of travellers seemed to be tourists rather than US residents.
I think it probably depends on what train you travel. Of course I came across tourists on my travels, but also a large amount of US Citizens - groups of grandparents going on a trip together to see the grand canyon in Arizona, small family going back home after visiting Chicago, men going to see their mothers in another State, hippies travelling from Seattle to Santa Barbara and busking all the way down..... I actually met more US people then tourists. Again, depends on what trains you travel. I think tourists tend to fly, because they tend to have less time away.
I've travelled on Amtrak a lot when I visited the US East Coast. However I did notice that most of travellers seemed to be tourists rather than US residents.
I think it probably depends on what train you travel. Of course I came across tourists on my travels, but also a large amount of US Citizens - groups of grandparents going on a trip together to see the grand canyon in Arizona, small family going back home after visiting Chicago, men going to see their mothers in another State, hippies travelling from Seattle to Santa Barbara and busking all the way down..... I actually met more US people then tourists. Again, depends on what trains you travel. I think tourists tend to fly, because they tend to have less time away.
As I said, I was only travelling on the East Coast (NY, NJ, DC, Philly, Boston, Toronto and Massachusetts) so my observation might not be valid for the rest of the US. And that trip was more than 8 years ago, so things might have changed since then.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
It's not a preferred transport system for Americans because US trains are no way as fast as European trains plus .....We are so far behind in this area! :(
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
I once traveled from Hamilton, ONT to New York, NY using Amtrak and it was awesome experience. I think it took a good 10 to 12 hours but I thoroughly enjoyed it. :-)
Hey I used to live in Vancouver - westside, by Stanley Park!! Where are you?
I once traveled from Hamilton, ONT to New York, NY using Amtrak and it was awesome experience. I think it took a good 10 to 12 hours but I thoroughly enjoyed it. :-)
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
I traveled everyday into the city by train...and then I got laid off so now Im back to driving!
all the time ! wen i was in chicago i used to take the train to downtown or the mall or jus an area far better den changing 2-3 buses.
i traveled amtrak and i luved it great experience enjoyd it to the fullest , the cafeteria , the outside view the pppl everything is jus awesome. os my opinion us railway isnt bad at all
I've travelled a lot from long Island, NY to Princeton, NJ first through LIRR and then through NJTransit. Its fun in the begining but very soon you get bored. Or else you should be habitual to sleep in train.
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
^Same here. I basically lived on LIRR since I didn't have the time to take a driving test and I had to go to three different boroughs of NY for home/school/work. I think its amazing actually. Even now when I want to go into the city, I prefer taking the LIRR and then NYC subway since it saves a lot of time and $$ on parking, traffic etc.
To Code Red- US is huge, I think it depends on where people live and what's the preferred method. I know that Mid-Western states have the largest railway system of the US and no one uses it. I went to Ohio and the hotel management didn't even know where the train station was (~7 min away from hotel)
Re: Do people in USA ever travel in trains ?
my family once traveled from nyc to tampa and back by amtrak, that was some 14 yrs ago. it remains one of my favourite memories because we had Dad to ourselves for entire days, undisturbed by business calls and work. this was one trip where the journey was as wonderful as the destination.
in general, i enjoy traveling by train. bunnyhoney, just a few days ago i was reading abt the via rail-amtrak 30 days unlimited pass. someday i'd like to do that, it sounds awesome. i would love to see pics which you took from the train... pls post them!!
Oh i didnt really take photos, I did a video. However my face is too ugly to show on here :(
my family once traveled from nyc to tampa and back by amtrak, that was some 14 yrs ago. it remains one of my favourite memories because we had Dad to ourselves for entire days, undisturbed by business calls and work. this was one trip where the journey was as wonderful as the destination.
in general, i enjoy traveling by train. bunnyhoney, just a few days ago i was reading abt the via rail-amtrak 30 days unlimited pass. someday i'd like to do that, it sounds awesome. i would love to see pics which you took from the train... pls post them!!