Jordan:
First, a point of clarification - I did not say that train is faster than plane between dc and nyc. I said it takes about the same amount time when you factor in getting to and from the airport - you can verify that by referring to time estimates i gave in my posting. My point was was that given the equal amopunt of travel time, I prefer train because it is more civilised. In fact, I really appreciate the ability of being able to walk to the diner and order my coffee instead of being served peanuts while strapped to a seat.
Of course you are right that this is the peculiarity of the NEC. If you happen to commute between DC and cities outside the NEC (e.g. Boston, Pittsburgh, or Chicago), not to mention California where rail transit is below the Third World level, train is a rather poor alternative.
But your remarks miss a larger point that different modes of transportation serve different needs and markets, and thus cannot be replaced with one another. Western Europe illustrates that quite nicely -it has a quite efficient air transportation, an excellent rail system, and a well-developed freeway system that supplement each other.
Contrast that with the stupidity and shortsightedness of people who call themselves the government in this country (not to mention their nauseating subservience to corporate interests) that led to the criminal decision to deliberately destroy the rail based transportation and replace it with cars and planes.
The absence of rail-based short-to-middle range transportation system has substantially reduced the mobility of those who cannot drive, such as minors, retirees, the handicapped, those who cannot afford to have a car - in a word, the "life unfit to life" in the great scheme of corporate Amerikkka. Not to mention the increased pollution, risk of accidents, economic cost to the traveller, and simple inconvenience and physical and mental fatigue caused by driving. It is the price everyone of us pays with our flesh and blood.
Again, my point is not to replace cars and planes with trains but to show the monumental idiocy of the Amerikun government policies aiming to replace the latter with the former.
PS. As in case of guns, I have nothing against planes and cars per se - they are often marvels of engineering indeed. What irks me is the excesses they serve in this pathological society.
wojtek