Riding the Rails


Once upon a time, it seemed I spent an inordinate amount of time on airplanes, flying hither and yon for whatever company for which I was working. In my last air escapade, as the Internet bubble was bursting, I flew from New York to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Tokyo, Tokyo to Sydney, Sydney back to New York in eight days.

Besides all that flying, I managed to go to a number of meetings, sound reasonably coherent and entertain clients. After landing at two in the morning, I made a detailed report the following morning and was laid off by the end of the day.

Tripp met me on a street corner the hour after I got the layoff news and said to me, “Thank God it’s over.”

Today it seems I spend an inordinate number of hours on trains, which is a slower, calmer [most of the time] kind of experience which speaks to the slower, calmer [most of the time] kind of life I’m leading now and want to continue leading.

It is the change that has come over the last three years, a change in lifestyle that is reflected in my change of mode of travel. As I write this, I am on a train, chugging north from DC to NYC, a trip I will have made twice this week. Once for business and again, a second time, to visit with friends.

Once upon a time, I was that most valued of airline customers, a frequent business traveler, racking miles up and holding gold/elite/preferred status on almost every major airline. I used to know their reservation numbers by heart and most of the upgrade secrets known to man.

Now I am Amtrak Guest Rewards Select Member. It qualifies me for very little as Amtrak hasn’t quite got the loyalty thing worked out yet but I have hopes. I have become a fan of train travel and so it was with great delight I read in this morning’s papers [along with all the bloody news] that the Southeastern states are bonding together to build a good rapid rail system between their major cities. On top of that a slew of other initiatives for train travel are appearing across the nation, intending to marry an older idea with high tech to create a new solution.

California is going to be voting on a bond issue to build a 200 mile per hour train between its coastal cities. Out in the mid-west there is serious talk of a fast train connecting Chicago and Minneapolis. And here on the east coast chatter about upgrading the rail system is constant if largely only chatter.

Hooray! In these post 9/11 days there is a civility to train travel that appeals to me. I am not stripped searched if I suddenly decide to travel. I am less vulnerable to the vagaries of weather. Last week, during the snow storm a man was overheard on the Rail Phone, shouting incredulously to a confidante on the other end, “YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHERE I AM! I AM ON A TRAIN!”

Snow storms, I suspect, turn some flyers into trainers. There is nothing like a shut down airport to convince people to try a different form of travel.

The east coast is bound together in many ways as much by its train routes as it is by its air corridors and the longer I am here, the more I realize how important the train is and what a valuable asset it is to the country.

As I take the train almost every weekend to the country, as it is now my preferred mode of transportation between New York and Washington, D.C. I have come upon an appreciation for the train and occasionally send my Congress People notes about doing something about making America a more train friendly kind of place.

So, this is my thought for the week: do us all a favor, no matter where you live in the country and make a plea to Congress for better trains. You and your kids and their kids will all thank you for it.