Between which cities is Flight to Amtrak travel time difference highes

[fairviewroad]

This isn't Amtrak, but the top North America marks belong to VIA:
Vancouver - Toronto = 82 hours by train, or 4 hrs 20 minutes non-stop flight for a multiple of 19.1

Toronto - Vancouver = 87 hours by train, or 5 hours non-stop flight for a multiple of 20.

Now you might say that's not a fair comparison, since with the demise of the Sunset East, Amtrak doesn't

really have a coast-to-coast through train. But in fact, VIA's record for slowness (using this measuring stick)

is a train with endpoints in the same province:

But then Vancouver to Toronto is not exactly Coast to Coast either. The Atlantic Coast is a bit further on from Toronto!

But then Vancouver to Toronto is not exactly Coast to Coast either. The Atlantic Coast is a bit further on from Toronto!

Who said anything about the Atlantic Coast...I was referring to the coast of Lake Ontario! :giggle:

But yes, you're right, the Canadian is not a "Coast to Coast" train. Still, there is no

equivalent train in the Amtrak system.

New Orleans is on the Gulf Coast....

Okay, let me put it another way: "The Canadian" is a train the runs between the Eastern Time Zone and the Pacific Time Zone.

Amtrak does not have such a train.

Happy now?

 

[Ryan]

Wow, that's amazing.

For smallest, I would guess WAS/DCA - PHL. 1h28 (1.46) by train, 54m (0.9) by plane for a 1.6.

EWR-PHL clocks in at 59 minutes by train and 47 minutes by plane. That's a 1.25 (and that's the shortest flight - one of them takes 57 minutes, for a ratio of 1.04).

Yeah, Texan Eagle mentioned that (and that it falls afoul of the 100 mile minimum).

 

[Texan Eagle]

So are we at a consensus that TE between CHI-LAX is the city pair where Amtrak to flight time ratio is maximum in the USA? Is anyone putting any other nominations?

I guess the longer we go, the plane:train time difference will keep getting higher and higher, so considering 422 TE is the longest running train, it is not surprising that it is the winner (loser?) here.

A side-activity: what is the longest distance city-pair where Amtrak takes less than double the flight time? Ratio less than 2. That would be the maximum distance upto which train travel can be reasonably considered a good competition to air travel in terms of time if you ask me.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Just Spitballing but I'd say that WAS-PHL on the Acela or a Regional would probably have the Best Train vs. Plane Ratio? :unsure:

 

[fairviewroad]

I guess the longer we go, the plane:train time difference will keep getting higher and higher, so considering 422 TE is the longest running train, it is not surprising that it is the winner (loser?) here.

But as I showed with VIA, it's not necessarily the longest train distance-wise that has the greatest plane:train time difference. (I.E. the Winnipeg-Churchill train has a worse

ratio than the Toronto-Vancouver train) So while I'd agree the TE would be hard to "beat" it isn't because of the overall distance...it's more because of the circuitous routing

along the way.

Just Spitballing but I'd say that WAS-PHL on the Acela or a Regional would probably have the Best Train vs. Plane Ratio? :unsure:

Perhaps, in part because the Acela probably has a far lower amount of schedule padding than the typical Amtrak train,

and short-haul flights in that area typically have a much larger amount of padding than normal. So on paper at least

the train is much closer to the flight than it actually would be without the padding.

 

[Phil S]

No accounting for taste, but I find the low ratios more interesting, given they don't acccount for travel time to and from plane and train. For giggles, I tried Trans-Siberian, Moscow/Beijing. 136 hrs vs 7.3 = 18.6. Pretty impressive, given the border crossing. The electrics must accelerate PDQ.

 

[GG-1]

I'm from Texas so Math isnt my Long Suit! :giggle:

No comment Jim!

Jim in a suit

Aloha

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

This isn't Amtrak, but the top North America marks belong to VIA:
Vancouver - Toronto = 82 hours by train, or 4 hrs 20 minutes non-stop flight for a multiple of 19.1

Toronto - Vancouver = 87 hours by train, or 5 hours non-stop flight for a multiple of 20.

Now you might say that's not a fair comparison, since with the demise of the Sunset East, Amtrak doesn't

really have a coast-to-coast through train. But in fact, VIA's record for slowness (using this measuring stick)

is a train with endpoints in the same province:

Winnipeg <-> Churchill = 45 hours by train, or 1 hr 45 minutes non-stop flight for a multiple of 25.7

LOL, and we thought American trains were slow. The IP or Ghan down under must be reallly bad too. I know it's far away but at least the railcars were based on American designs!

 

[Texan Eagle]

This isn't Amtrak, but the top North America marks belong to VIA:
Vancouver - Toronto = 82 hours by train, or 4 hrs 20 minutes non-stop flight for a multiple of 19.1

Toronto - Vancouver = 87 hours by train, or 5 hours non-stop flight for a multiple of 20.

Now you might say that's not a fair comparison, since with the demise of the Sunset East, Amtrak doesn't

really have a coast-to-coast through train. But in fact, VIA's record for slowness (using this measuring stick)

is a train with endpoints in the same province:

Winnipeg <-> Churchill = 45 hours by train, or 1 hr 45 minutes non-stop flight for a multiple of 25.7

LOL, and we thought American trains were slow. The IP or Ghan down under must be reallly bad too. I know it's far away but at least the railcars were based on American designs!

So you're saying Canada is not America?