Korean Job Discussion Forums

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Who would take the train when it is cheaper to fly?

Also, the problem with implementing High Speed rail in the US is that there isn't mass transit to get people to the Rail Station. Americans still gotta drive to the train station. Its not like other countries when a bus/subway is close to your house and you can just travel with your bags.

I remember visiting Washington DC, and just getting a parking spot in the Metro Stations was a huge ordeal. Even then, if you leave your car there overnight you are gonna get slammed with huge fees.

No one wants subways/bus stops in the suburbs because Suburbia is afraid the "bad people" in the cities would easily find their way to the suburbs.

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

I love how convenient public transportation is here in Asia, and it's a pain going back home and having to drive everywhere, even to the conveneince store.

As others have said, high-speed rail is an excellent idea between major urban centers.

However, you're still stuck with having inadequate public transportation in the cities and suburbs themselves. Let's say I take the train into Pittsburgh to visit my familiy. Well, once there what am I going to do? Rent a car? Have somebody pick me up? That defeats the purpose. And of course if I want to go shopping, or go to a park, or go to a convenience store, I need to drive.

Until Americans realize that public transportation can be a good thing, and isn't just reserved for shady characters and poor people, little will change. Seeing how much resistence there is to health care and to gun control, I can just imagine the backlash to somebody suggesting they take the bus or train instead of driving.

I hope someday my country develops.

roadwork · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Location: Goin' up the country

Not true. There are plenty of high speed (ultra high speed) railways in the US. They're all underground going between Los Alamos Lab, Groom Lake, Wright-Patterson AFB, Kirkland AFB and the infamous base at Dulce, NM.

Forward Observer · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Location: FOB Gloria

Forward Observer · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Location: FOB Gloria

AmericanExile · Joined: 04 May 2009

I would take the train over an airplane given close price and overall time. Airlines, airports, and governments have become openly hostile in dealing with airline passengers. It is a horrible experience. The moment you set foot on a plane you cease to be a free human. The airline owns you until they choose to let you go. I've started telling airlines I have Factor 5 Leiden just so I can get water during a flight.

It is a horrible, horrible experience.

The not having a car issue is no different for a plane.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

Admittedly, I think train travel between cities will have a harder climb in cities which are very car-dependent, such as western ones with a highly spread out population. Maybe some eastern cities with better subway systems and less sprawl would find this easier. My own example is the Las Vegas strip, a highly concentrated zone where cars aren't needed, but I'm not sure where in Los Angeles you would build such a railroad to.

I like flying. I really do. But the overall experience of traveling by train is so much easier. No traveling half an hour outside the city to the airport. No fighting to get your luggage on, no six hundred petty service charges, no traveling from counter to gate to security to gate, no jerks demanding your papers every ten feet or making you take half your clothes off. Dining cars or observation cars if you're seated next to a crying baby. No tiny, jammed seats; no restrictions on forks or liquids. Very few trains get hijacked!

AmericanExile · Joined: 04 May 2009

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

I took a train from DC to NYC. It wasn't the Acela (high speed rail). The train ride was pleasant. I didn't have to check bags or deal with security like I would if I flew.

In order for high speed rail to be successful in the US, you need mass transit to get people from the Stations to their homes. Otherwise, what's the point? No one wants to leave for extended period of time in a parking lot. Especially with signs all over the place that say "Park at your own risk". Don't even get me started on the fees they charge you to park.

After you set all that up, the price has to be reasonable.

Its $177-$221 per person to take the Acela Bullet Train from Washington DC to NYC. According to Expedia, a flight there is $150.

chris_J2 · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: From Brisbane, Au.

If you have an overweight passenger seated next to you, on a domestic flight, & the person in front fully reclines their seat for the duration of the flight, except when forced to put the seat in upright position, by flight attendants, for meals / take off / landing, then rail is a better option, imo. At least you can get up & walk around.