Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Trains... Why Not Trains?

Check it out--two posts from me in one day!

I was driving around today doing a few errands, and while driving along University Avenue in St. Paul, I saw two 20-somethings walking down the street. The Twin Cities are fairly well known for having a greater-than-average number of people who actually use the sidewalks, but the relevant stretch of University is pretty much industrial, so this couple caught my eye. 

As I pulled away from the stoplight, I noticed that the young woman was pulling a big, wheeled suitcase (not to be confused with a "Big Wheel" suitcase, although that would also have caught my attention), while the young man was walking along playing a guitar. I know... you'd think that the guitar-carrying would have caught my eye first, but I was driving so things not on the road were taking a backseat to things actually on the road.

So I was driving along and processing the Fellini-esque scene and it dawned on me about half a block later that they were probably heading to the Amtrak station, which they were heading in the general direction of. Which got me thinking...

Why aren't there more passenger trains in the States? Freight trains criss-cross the country, but passenger trains are few and far between. Want to know how few or how far between? Check out the Amtrak route maps. Sure... If you live on the East Coast you can find decent trips (as long as you're going from one big city to another, at least). And if you're okay with transferring back and forth to buses, you can do fairly well travelling in California and all the way up to Vancouver. But here in the middle of the country, you really can't go anywhere by train. (Of the two routes listed in Minnesota, one is actually a bus route.)

I guess I got spoiled when I lived in France between college and grad school. Over there it's so much easier to take the train than a car or even a plane. And I remember trips where people sat in the areas between the coaches and talked or played guitar and shared food and drinks. (Yes, I know it sounds like I'm talking about a movie, but I swear it actually happened on a trip I took with some friends!)

Even better, European trains go into even the smallest of towns, which means that even in the farthest reaches of Europe and Great Britain you can get within a few miles of where you're going. (They may not always be on time, but that's a different story.) On the other hand, if I wanted to go to visit my parents in South Dakota, the closest I could get by train is... well... St. Paul, which is actually about 20 minutes farther away from them than I am when I'm at home.

So... yeah... I miss train travel, and--in a related, but completely unrealistic way--I also miss food and real silverware on flights. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ah, trains. I've always had a thing for trains. All the politics and love-of-car psychology aside.... France is what, the size of Texas? I think size matters in this case. Of course, if we'd spent all the money spent on the interstate system since the 40s on a railway system instead, we'd probably have a great rail system... and an auto industry that rivals France's auto industry.:-) (Personally, I'd rather have the rail system than the cars.)