(The following column by Alfred Borcover appeared on the Chicago Tribune website on June 29.)
CHICAGO — Given the ever-climbing price of gas at the pump and the soaring airfares due to fuel costs, it’s time to look at Amtrak as an alternative.
While Amtrak is not without negatives — awful on-time records, aging equipment, some inconvenient schedules — trains remain a viable and comfortable means of travel. For those who have ridden the rails in Europe, but not in the United States, forget about comparisons. Unlike the Europeans, Americans don’t have any trains that clip along at 186 mph. The closest equivalent is the Acela, engineered to go 150 mph in the Northeast Corridor of Washington-New York-Boston but mainly travels at 125 mph and below. For other Amtrak trains, the speed limit is a snail-like 79 mph.
Nevertheless, if you can take a deep breath and relax, a train trip might be a great option.
To be sure, ridership is up. “Our advance booking volumes are high and [ridership] is up 10.8 percent year to date, with a lot of momentum going into the summer months,” said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman in Chicago. Last year, Amtrak carried 25.8 million passengers, the most since it started operations in 1971.
The U.S. long-haul trains should be considered part of the vacation experience. Especially the Superliners, say the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles via Kansas City and Albuquerque, the Empire Builder to Seattle via Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Glacier National Park, Mont., and the California Zephyr to Emeryville/San Francisco via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City and Reno. To do the full run on those trains takes from 40, 46 and 54 hours, respectively.
If you choose to tough it out in coach, which means sitting and sleeping in your seat for the entire trip, fares are reasonable but can vary a lot depending on whether you qualify for discounts for seniors, children, AAA members and others.
Sleeping accommodations aren’t discounted and can push your costs into the first-class airfare range, but all meals are included.
Tips for your Amtrak trip:
Bring a photo ID. Amtrak instituted new security procedures earlier this year that include Mobile Security Teams, random baggage inspections and identification checks.
Other things you might want to bring: a good map that covers your route, a cellphone, a laptop, an iPod, reading material.
You can check up to two pieces of luggage for free, but there’s a 50-pound weight limit for each one. To book a train trip, go to www.amtrak.com, phone 800-872-7245.