The New York Times reports Amtrak now carries 54 per cent of New York Boston rail and airline traffic and 75 per cent of the New York Washington traffic. While flying time remains shorter than train time when security delays are added the time difference becomes insignificant. Other reasons are the ability to work on trains and resentment over the way TSA treats people. Acela service is responsible for the greater number of riders.
The article also reports buses like Bolt and Megabus are popular because of fares that range from $1 to $40 while Amtrak's lowest fare on its Northeast Regional trains is $49 and even on these slower trains the fares can be much higher.
Here is a link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/hassles-of-air-travel-push-passengers-to-amtrak.html?pagewanted=all
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