(no subject)

[lollardfish]

Although I had my doubts, it turns out that on the train you CAN get up and walk around.

And they have big seats.

And food at a reasonable price (compared to airlines).

AND POWER OUTLETS!

And it costs $43 round trip from Chicago to Kalamazoo, which is approximately $300 less than flying, and about 40$ less than driving.

Comments

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

man, all the kool kids are going to k'zoo. pout.

[neogrammarian.livejournal.com]

Next year, man, I'm telling you. I'll fly into ORD, and we'll train over together. What a blast!

(Wish there was some way for you to bug a colleague about a cosponsored-session request I sent him 2 weeks ago and heard nothing about. Their business meeting is in bufu, though, so there's no way it would be convenient for you to run by early).

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Sorry :( Email me details though and I'll try?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I took ViaRail last year from Toronto to Montreal and was dumbfounded by how much I'd taken for granted that travel had to be tedious and uncomfortable, until it wasn't.

[rvrjoe775.livejournal.com]

The power of living in Chicago...

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

If only more trains went more places...

more trains going more places......

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

I've wished for this a long time. So far to no avail.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

The real question is how it compares going to Mpls.:)

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should test it out. I hope you have better luck with the train then me. Mine always end up with wheels.

I wanna come see you. You must miss me by now :)

Maybe after his sister is here I could come there for like 3 whole days plus two travel days. I think this time I want to try my luck with driving, maybe. though flying in theory should go better now.
Whens good for you guys? and what days of the week would be best?

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

Round trip cost for two people and one infant about $386. Trip duration in excess of 8 hours, one way.

Price may vary based upon time of year and potential discounts (they used to, and may still, offer discounts to AAA members)

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should try in a couple of weeks if our car's in trouble ...

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Your car is going to get into trouble? Define a couple of weeks cause I think of that as two.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

For the Minnehaha's party.:) Settle down.

When do you want to come and visit? There's only three weeks between now and the party weekend.:)

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Are you coming for sure? Are you still then coming when was it the end of June or July? So confused.

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Well I just found these things out I was thinking around that time. So maybe after.

[le-trombone.livejournal.com]

I've done Chicago - St. Paul once, and it is quite comfortable. The only downside is that it is not a direct route - it goes through Milwaukee before turning leftwards.

On the other hand, there's an honest-to-goodness dining car, and the food was good.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Of course, you have passenger train service available, which many people don't. Oh, and don't even think about trying to go to Canada that way. We looked into it as a possibility for Conadian (the idea was to drive to Chicago, hook up with Kathy and some other folks, and take the train from there), and discovered that the only way to get from Chicago to Winnipeg was to go thru Toronto!

Nonetheless, the rising cost of fuel is going to make a serious dent in my previous main reason for not liking trains -- that they cost as much as plane fare, but you don't get there any faster than driving. This is changing, as your figures illustrate.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Right! And my friends who have tried to take the train from Mpls to Chicago or Detroit have generally been disappointed in both speed and reliability. Canada is a disaster now with the border crossing, too, I hear.

But yesterday was good.

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

I might regard it as more accurate to state that we've been disappointed because too often our train ride turns into a bus ride. To be fair, one of the times the train ride turned into a bus ride was because the floods in southern Minnesota washed out the tracks.

[jadiana.livejournal.com]

Wow. Maybe I'll check into prices again. The last time I wanted to take a train to anywhere significant, it was more than 4 times the cost of a plane ticket. Seriously. $250 to fly, $1080 to take the train.

[le-trombone.livejournal.com]

But of course! I'm surprised that you're surprised!

(I've been using the train between Chicago and Dearborn or Birmingham MI for over fifteen years now. The only risks really are delays due to freight trains, which can be a real pain. On the other hand, the tracks have gradually gotten better, so when there are no freight train delays, the trip can go really smoothly).

Also a feature: no airport hassles.