Why Railroads:
Personal Travel Benefits
Comfortable, Convenient Travel
Wider seats, more legroom and the ability to get up and move around are selling points for the train, no matter what the distance. There is no need to stow belongings for take off and landing. You can read, plug in your laptop,
or use your cell phone (in designated areas) for the whole
trip.
 |
|
You can see the countryside
through large windows or feel free to walk to
the cafe car or other accommodations at any time. |
 |
|
Family Friendly
Travel
You can take time to interact with your kids, without
looking in a rear view mirror. |
 |
|
Productive Travel
Since there is so much transition time in air travel,
even slightly longer rail trip times can provide more
productive time. Driving is almost entirely down time.
Methods of increasing productivity while driving, such
as cell phones, make driving less safe. |
 |
|
Travel Time
The train continues to move as the traveler
eats and sleeps and gains a travel time advantage over
driving as trip length increases. Sure, people often drive
very long trips “straight through”, but at
a cost of comfort and safety. |
Rail gains a travel time advantage over air as the distance
from a hub airport increases because rail stations can be
located in more places and closer to population concentrations.
 |
|
A Better Way to
the Airport
By connecting communities to major airports, fast trains
will allow you to avoid expensive airport parking and
limos. And you won’t have to impose on your friends
and family for a ride through heavy airport traffic. |
Location
Unlike airports, railroad stations can be located in population
centers. Their relatively low operating costs make it possible
to serve many more places. Rail gains a travel time advantage
over air as the distance from a hub airport increases because
rail stations can be located in more places and closer to
population concentrations. These passengers boarding in Normal,
IL will travel to destinations in Arkansas and Texas that
are difficult and time consuming to reach by air.
Travel Cost
If gas charges are the only
measure, driving is often cheaper. But gas alone does not
represent the true cost to the consumer. Even just using the
IRS allocation of $.36 per mile makes rail fare attractive
in most cases.
Safety
The safety advantages of rail travel over auto are well documented.
Driver fatigue and other factors widen the gap as trip lengths
increase, especially if hotel and restaurant breaks are skipped
to save expense or time.
|
