Midnight train from GA: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle
by walterbell on 3/29/2026, 8:00:02 PM
Comments
by: stego-tech
I've taken multiple Amtrak routes, all out of the Northeast Corridor but eventually crossing the country West or South.<p>You don't take Amtrak because you want to get there fast, and you don't really take it because it's cheaper than flying. You take it because you <i>can</i>, and because it's more important to you to be (comparatively) comfortable instead of rushing from A to B. You take it because of the sights, the people, the chance encounters, the proximity to city centers that airplanes can never hope to match. It's an <i>experience</i> in and of itself that's distinctly foreign to many Americans, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.<p>Sitting in a roomette, crossing from Boston to LA over a long weekend, sharing delicious meals with total strangers as the countryside whizzed by (or we sat on a siding waiting on a freight train).<p>Just not comparable.
3/29/2026, 11:52:25 PM
by: adjejmxbdjdn
> The train is still longer, and time is money, we are taught. But certainty has value, too, even if it means at 11:29 p.m. departure.<p>Unfortunately this is misleading. Outside of the Northeast Acela corridor, there is no certainty in train travel in the U.S..<p>Although legally passenger trains are now supposed to have right of way over freight trains, in practice that’s just not the case. So a 14.5 hr train journey can easily be delayed by several hours.
3/29/2026, 8:53:38 PM
by: shagie
The regular site (rather than aggregator): <a href="https://apnews.com/article/airports-shutdown-long-lines-train-travel-amtrak-e4d8ea591b3b036142c2bf2dee7dff5a" rel="nofollow">https://apnews.com/article/airports-shutdown-long-lines-trai...</a><p>This also includes some images that aren't part of the netscape.com version... which is probably part of the point of it: "A view of America from the tracks" has some pictures of Amtrak stations and Virginia countryside.<p>(and for some nostalgia- City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman <a href="https://youtu.be/fhHxNMyw0dI" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/fhHxNMyw0dI</a> )
3/29/2026, 8:21:29 PM
by: Reason077
> <i>”… booked the train overnight and into game day across a 650-mile route … A 14½-hour weekend train ride”</i><p>Just by way of comparison, in China the 819-mile train route between Beijing and Shanghai takes 4.5 hours.
3/29/2026, 9:33:15 PM
by: superultra
I’ve taken this line - as many have and do all the time. Ride it once and you’ll realize why it’s the better way to travel in every way but cost and time - and both of those are a result of the United State unwillingness to fully fund something like Amtrak.<p>As the author states traveling by train just a more pleasant experience.<p>I should note that even though there is technically wifi on every Amtrak train, it’s cellular based. You’ll find that at least from atlanta to NY, the train somehow threads the needle between cellular ranges. Both your phone and of course the train will often be either out of range of fast cellular service or out of range altogether. Supposedly Amtrak is getting starlink but we’ll see. So, don’t expect to be getting on any video calls.
3/29/2026, 8:43:58 PM
by: Halian
I took the <i>Floridian</i> and <i>Silver Meteor</i> last April in coach round-trip to DC. 19 hours getting bounced around so badly I couldn't sleep. :(
3/30/2026, 12:05:31 PM
by: saagarjha
A lot of people here talking about the northeastern routes, but there's another good one that is kinda worth it: San Jose to Santa Barbara on the Coast Starlight, on account of SBA being very expensive to fly through. It's about 8 hours (driving is 5-6) and comparable in price to a bus (and it is probably beating gas right now, to be honest). And the tracks go by some of the prettiest coastline in the United States, usually around sunset too.
3/30/2026, 9:26:06 AM
by: dylan604
Delta has round trip flights from ATL->WAS for ~$800<p>TFA train round trip shows $306 without a private cabin.<p>TFA already mentioned the time differences.<p>The googs says it's 638miles doable in 9.5hours. Say an average of 20mpg at $4/gal (I have no idea what current rates are in that part of the country) needs 32gals for $128 one way or $256 to come back. Of course someone needs to drive it.<p>The train definitely looks like a decent deal for this route. I've priced train rides from my town, and prices look like plane routes but in days instead of hours. The train doesn't make sense all of the time, but I'm holding out hope I'll find a trip where it will make sense.
3/29/2026, 8:43:25 PM
by: ghaff
I’m hoping it won’t be necessary but, if TSA is fundamentally broken with an international transfer through Dulles I will seriously consider taking the train from a union Station to Boston.<p>Honestly surprised how many TSA people are still working without pay. I wouldn’t in their shoes. Maybe if TSA just basically shutdown commercial aviation in the US it would lead to some progress.
3/29/2026, 9:59:28 PM
by: etmargallo
Wow, netscape is still around
3/29/2026, 11:27:24 PM
by: II2II
The tone of the article, as well as some of the comments here, make me think of "City of New Orleans" (a song about the history and experience of American railways) instead of "Midnight Train to Georgia".
3/30/2026, 12:39:45 AM
by: rballpug
I started to think, whether the UP-Norfolk Southern merger would bring major changes to the mid-line time-keeping measure in the CCG.
3/30/2026, 3:01:07 AM
by: ritcgab
Interestingly mixed usage of en dash and em dash across the article.
3/29/2026, 11:15:51 PM
by: brianzelip
The song title is actually ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’.
3/30/2026, 1:03:15 AM
by: plagiarist
I wish we had high speed rail. Rail travel is actually pleasant. Air travel is a godawful nightmare that is somehow worse every single year.
3/29/2026, 9:35:30 PM
by: axpy906
“ That is what drew Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman for one of the Civil War’s seminal campaigns that helped defeat the Confederacy.”<p>To be clear Sherman burned it to the ground which is why it got renamed Atlanta.
3/29/2026, 9:29:05 PM
by: derelicta
I rode the amtrak from NYC, to DC then finally to Atlanta. Beautiful all the way, but incredibly slow, and the train "station" at Atlanta is left to be desired to say the last.
3/30/2026, 7:20:19 AM
by: yanhangyhy
I highly recommend everyone read <i>“The Grass Frontier”</i>. It provides a detailed account of the development of American suburbanization and its integration with the automobile industry. (and why cars > trains after that)<p>The United States is a very unique case—its capitalist development progressed faster than in other countries. Although many industries today are controlled by oligarchs and politicians and no longer serve the public interest, this history remains distinctive and worth remembering.
3/30/2026, 2:40:51 AM
by: ChrisArchitect
If you were trying to highlight the Netscape ISP site OP, thread here: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565264">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565264</a>
3/29/2026, 9:24:09 PM
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3/29/2026, 9:21:45 PM
by: homeonthemtn
Whoa, forget the train, folks check out this website. This is active??
3/29/2026, 8:09:22 PM
by: theturtle
[dead]
3/29/2026, 10:04:24 PM