Trains in the US are used predominantly for freight. The rail system is shown below. As a result the US has the least expensive freight shipping in the world and our roads aren’t clogged up with diesel trucks to the degree they are in e.g. European countries. It’s a good way to use trains where distances tend to be greater and population density is on average low (although lower still would be better for living standards)
Having said that I could walk from my house, get on a train and take it to within walking distance of my hangar, where there’s a dedicated stop directly across the street from one of the transient ramps at the airport. It’s intended mainly to get people from their planes to the city center. I wouldn’t normally use the train to get there as the drive from my house is much easier, 32 miles in 30 minutes, but it can surely be done. If I need to retrieve a car or motorcycle from my hangar without leaving another vehicle behind it’s an option.
I’ve taken night trains in Europe, for example Rome to Trento to go skiing in the morning. It was OK for that short distance, but sleep was not too great. However I’ve taken more overnight ferries in Europe than I could count, and enjoy it a lot. You save the cost of a hotel, as mentioned, sleep well in a cabin, and you and your motorcycle magically arrive somewhere else overnight. Then in the morning you can take off after breakfast on board to ride all day in a different place. Good fun.
A good illustration of flying vs train in USA vs Europe…
To pick up the Nightjet, I’ve used it to have dinner in Milan and breakfast in Munich with the family. Very easy and straightforward – you don’t notice the time because you have your bedtime in one place and wake up in the other.
Certainly preferable to me to commercial or day flights. If done as part of a vacation you also save the cost of a hotel for the night, but obviously you don’t sleep as well.
Train is great – wherever the tracks are, too. For example I go to Munich a couple of times per year. The connection by train is just wonderful. It’s a straight direction, without having to change the train. I really do like traveling by train, I even had the German “black mamba” (one time pay and take every train, bus, metro whatsoever in the whole country for 1 year) and used it a lot, mostly for business. But it only makes sense if the connections are good and/or there’s no luggage to take along.
A site I use quite regularly is www.luftlinie.org (translation might be “linear distance”). It shows the air distance in kilometers and nautical miles (which is NAM) and also calculates the distance and time by car (using google maps). It can use ICAO and IATA codes for airports, too. I use this to roughly estimate air travel times and whether it makes sense to go by car or by plane. The information is no rocket science, but it’s just easy to use, put in start and destination and you have it there.
Edit: just reviewed it, it doesn’t show miles any more, just kilometers. Don’t know whether this is in the settings…
Another edit: english site is www.distance.to
johnh, what about a small plane? For example, Peter’s TB20?
Let’s pretend that I could base a TB20 at Biarritz or Dax (you can’t), and choose Toussus LFPN as the airport.
Drive to airport 35 mins
Pre flight, fuel 30 mins minimum
Taxi etc 10 mins
Flight 2h40 (A straight line LFBZ-LFPN at 150 KTAS is 2h17, add some margin for indirect routes, vectoring etc)
Taxi, secure plane 20 mins (absolute minimum)
Taxi LFPN-Paris 45 mins at a cost of 150 euros
That makes 5 hours, so if I left home at 7h40 I’d be at the office at 12h40 – a bit later than either flying commercial or the train. It would have cost about 1000 euros for the round trip. I’d have spent several more hours planning the flight and associated contingencies. I’d be pretty tired, too.
It would be quicker/cheaper if I could land on the Champs Elysees, like in the movie Funny Face. A bit quicker and a lot more expensive to go to Le Bourget. I could save money by just taking the taxi to the nearest RER station, and add an hour or so to the journey time.
Simply, they take time and are viciously expensive.
I go first class on the TGV. It costs about the same as the plane – Easyjet or AF, it makes little difference, though AF is a lot less unpleasant.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Had the same problem, then loaded the site again using this link.
Thanks, the German version indeed works for me, too, in Firefox. And one can left-click to “freeze” the starting point. Depressing how many places cannot be reached :-\
johnh wrote:
or TGV-free Switzerland
The TGV’s are operating here. You can do Paris with it. From Zurich. You can also do German ICE’s. Simply, they take time and are viciously expensive.
Last time I checked, a TGV ticket to Paris and back was 2ce the price the airline ticket cost. I did investigate NightJet Trains as well and their prices are ridiculous for an 11 hour train which covers the distance of a 1 hour airline flight.
johnh wrote:
Maybe in Bulgaria, or TGV-free Switzerland. In France the trains do 300 km/h. If I take my Dax example, the train runs at normal speed (~130) to Bordeaux then non-stop to Paris at 300. It takes 3h30. From there it’s a 15 minute metro ride to my company’s office. I normally get the 0828 train, leaving home at 0740 and arriving at Montparnasse at 1158.Let’s suppose I fly instead. The absolute minimum safe arrival time is 1h30 before the flight. So I leave home at 0740, get to BIQ/LFBZ at 0815. Suppose there’s a perfectly timed plane that leaves at 0945, it will get into CDG/ORY at about 1100. Then I walk a LONG way to the train (CDG) or take the Orlyval (ORY). In the best case, and assuming I don’t have to queue for 20 minutes to get a ticket (normal case), it’s another 1h10 or so to the office. I arrive at exactly the same time.
johnh, what about a small plane? For example, Peter’s TB20? Or Emir’s DA42?
Trains are boring in general but European trains in my experience were great for carrying you and your motorcycle to wherever you’d like to start your 3000 km ride. Perfect in the early spring when the starting point is in warmer, more southern weather. However nowadays the service seems to have either shrunk or disappeared entirely, so I have no interest in the train.
Ferries are still good for Corsica and Sardegna 
It’s impressive to see what you can do in 5 hours. I would not really want to sit in a train that long ever but basically you can reach anyplace which you can reah with a flight time of about 30 minutes by jet or 1 hour by small plane.
Maybe in Bulgaria, or TGV-free Switzerland. In France the trains do 300 km/h. If I take my Dax example, the train runs at normal speed (~130) to Bordeaux then non-stop to Paris at 300. It takes 3h30. From there it’s a 15 minute metro ride to my company’s office. I normally get the 0828 train, leaving home at 0740 and arriving at Montparnasse at 1158.
Let’s suppose I fly instead. The absolute minimum safe arrival time is 1h30 before the flight. So I leave home at 0740, get to BIQ/LFBZ at 0815. Suppose there’s a perfectly timed plane that leaves at 0945, it will get into CDG/ORY at about 1100. Then I walk a LONG way to the train (CDG) or take the Orlyval (ORY). In the best case, and assuming I don’t have to queue for 20 minutes to get a ticket (normal case), it’s another 1h10 or so to the office. I arrive at exactly the same time.
But… I haven’t had to stand in line multiple times, spend 30 minutes standing in a freezing/boiling jetway (Easyjet SOP), etc etc etc. I got on the train, slept/read/worked in peaceful stress-free comfort.
That’s true for every major city in France now except Nice.
