[markphip]

My daughter recently moved to Vancouver. I was in Seattle for a work trip so decided to take Amtrak to visit her for the weekend. This was my first real train travel. Overall, it was pretty good and probably is what I will do in the future in the same situation.

The train moved at a frustratingly slow speed (< 10 mph) for probably 30% of the trip, but aside from that I liked the more relaxed atmosphere of the travel and it was overall more comfortable.

The train itself was a bit bumpier than I expected and the wifi was not very good. Those things and the slow speed would mean I could not imagine taking a much longer trip than this one. With the extra time and hassle of dealing with an airport, this one balanced out as probably only being slightly slower travel but it was less expensive and more relaxed. If it were Seattle to San Francisco, as an example, the slowness would be too much for me. The comfort and amenities like wifi and food would have to be a lot better than they are.

[bpye]

I take the Cascades from Vancouver-Seattle semi-frequently for work. On the US side it can run decently fast, but the Canadian side is very slow and if you’re unlucky you can end up waiting for marine traffic at the Fraser river swing bridge for some time.

Still my preferred way to do the trip if the timing works as I can get stuff done whilst on the train. The WiFi is pretty bad - but if you have a cell plan that covers the US and Canada you’ll have coverage for all of the Canadian side, and a decent amount of the US side.

[Symbiote]

It's amazing to me that someone can be around 50 years old and on a train for the first time.

But others might be amazed that I'm around 40 years old and have never owned a car.

[ghaff]

If someone in the US hasn't been in a position to take commuter rail with any frequency in a relatively small number of places--or maybe take Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor sometimes--it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that someone would never have been on anything beyond light rail (if that).

[markphip]

Probably referring to me? I live 2 hours from the closest airport. There are no trains near me. Barely any buses. And I am not counting trains within a city just taking a train to travel between cities.

I do not live that far from an Amtrak station but there is only one train a day, it takes forever, and does not go anywhere that I am typically traveling.