Replies

I think you are confusing Amtrak with Greyhound. When I’ve ridden Amtrak, passenger base is the same as on a legacy airline, especially on the Acela corridor. As far as subways/metros are concerned - the folks I have seen riding the metros in Paris, Amsterdam, and London are as diverse as those I see when I ride the PATH and MTA in my part of the world.

I don’t think diversity is the problem on long haul rail transportation (though it might be in consideration on inner city light rail). The worst experience I had with regards to fellow passengers was with a family of toofless hill billies traveling to the west coast. They were so bad that they when they were seated at a table in the dining car, the adjoining family got up and left rather than eat near them.

The big problem (other than the cost) that I found in going across America by rail is the second class status that they assign to passenger rail. Freight always takes precedence. There are long delays for passengers while their train waits for a freight to use the tracks ahead of them.

I once took a train from Chicago to Rhode Island via dc. We left out of Chicago sometime around dusk, traveled out of the city, stopped, and it wasn’t until the sun came up that the train started moving again. Made me miss my dc connection.

Of course, I haven’t ridden the train in ten years now. All could have changed.

Some years ago my family took the trail from Boston to Minneapolis/St. Paul with a change in trains in Chicago.

About six boys from the hood boarded the train in Chicago; they had a couple of roomettes next to ours. The profanity was non stop. The “boys” got off at every stop between Chicago and Minneapolis. We think they were dealing drugs.

About a week or two after our trip (the one and only) we read that there was a shoot out between rival gangs at Union Station Chicago.