MIHIR flew with Virgin Atlantic from London to New York and San Francisco to London. Fares start from £647.27.AMTRAK sleeper tickets from New York to San Francisco cost from £1,000, including meals.
It cost $970 to fly from London to New York and then San Francisco to London.
It cost $1500 to go ONE WAY across the US ($3000 round trip).
And that's supposed to be our future of transportation? A fun trip it can be, but economical? Not even close. And when you consider the TOTAL airtime of those two legs is 15 hours, and the train was at least 4 days one way, it's not even close to time efficient.
Remember, though, on a train the chance that you could spin toward the groud and certain death in wide-eyed horror are considerably less. That’s worth a few extra bucks to me.
And that's supposed to be our future of transportation?
No, as you well know, the future of our transportation is not transcontinental service, but faster, more efficient regional service between cities that are 100~600 miles apart. For these shorter, regional trips, high-speed rail is much more efficient than short-hop air travel. And the fact that these regional routes also happen to link together in a continental network where one can relax and enjoy a more scenic excursion across America is an added benefit.
“It cost $970 to fly from London to New York and then San Francisco to London.
It cost $1500 to go ONE WAY across the US ($3000 round trip).
And that’s supposed to be our future of transportation? A fun trip it can be, but economical? Not even close. And when you consider the TOTAL airtime of those two legs is 15 hours, and the train was at least 4 days one way, it’s not even close to time efficient.”
I’ll play along. Let’s all complain that going across the Atlantic in a steamship is slower and more expensive than flying.
Don’t forget that the coast-to-coast Amtrak trip is subisdized with $2,500 or so of taxpayer dollars just to cover operating costs.
It’s a $4,000 trip even before you factor in the coast of equipment.