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Recently I traveled from Austin to New York and Gettysburg.  I flew to Philadelphia, where I caught a SEPTA train from the airport to 30th Street Station.  After having lunch with a friend, I took Amtrak to New York's Pennsylvania Station.  After a weekend in New York, I took the train from New York to Harrisburg, where I rented a car and drove to Gettysburg.  After spending several days tramping over the Gettysburg Battlefield, I drove back to Harrisburg, where I caught a flight home. The flights were quick, economical and relatively comfortable.  I cleared security in Austin and Harrisburg without any fuss in less than five minutes at each location.  The TSA personnel were courteous, efficient, and effective.  The train legs of the trip were equally quick for the distance covered, economical, and comfortable.  The train is more comfortable than the coach section of an airplane.   Security personnel at 30th Street Station and Pennsylvania Station were performing random bag checks and using dogs to sniff trouble.  However, the security checks for train travel are less intrusive than the security checks for air travel.  Renting a car in Harrisburg to travel to Gettysburg required a transfer from the Harrisburg Amtrak Station to the Harrisburg Airport.  Getting there, however, was easy.  I took the Capital Area Transportation #7 bus, which stops right outside the station and goes to the airport in about 25 minutes.  The paperwork for the car was ready when I arrived at the airport rental counter, and I was on my way in minutes.       The round trip airfare was $288.  The train from Philly to New York was $54.60, whilst the trip to Harrisburg cost $34.50.  The SEPTA train was $7.00.  Excluding the rental car, transport cost me $377.10.  Had I taken the train from Austin to New York, with a stop in Philadelphia, and returned via a stopover in Harrisburg, the fare would have been $391 (rounded) in coach or $1,044 for first class.              The time to fly from Austin to Philadelphia, plus Harrisburg to Austin, including security clearance, but excluding dwell time, was approximately 11 hours.  The train time to New York was approximately 90 minutes; the train time to Harrisburg was a tad over three hours.  The combined times were approximately 15.5 hours.  The time to get there and back by train, excluding dwell time in Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg would have been approximately 106 hours.     Having laid out the money for an Acela ride last year, I opted for a regional train from Philadelphia to New York.  The train ride was comfortable.  It was a Friday afternoon, with a lot of people going home, but everyone found a seat.  The train ride to Harrisburg, which was mid Monday morning, was equally comfortable.  The load factor from New York to Philadelphia was high, but from Philadelphia to Harrisburg the load factor was low.  Because I finished my meeting in Philadelphia sooner than anticipated, I changed my reservation.  The Amtrak clerk at 30th Street was knowledgeable, courteous, and helpful.  He made the change in a jiffy, with a smile and a pleasant sendoff to boot. These experiences further reinforce my view that trains make sense in relatively short, high density corridors, where the cost of expanding highway and airway capacity is prohibitive.  They are not a serious option for long distance travel for most people.
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