Comments on: Air travel just doesn’t fly anymore

By: Billy

Billy — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:51:32 +0000

Just found your website and blog – very interesting and witty post I have today.

I recently had to travel from Toronto to NYC in a short notice. I didnt feel like driving for 11 hours str8 by myself and so it was either train or plane (when I completely forgot about coach).

The train was fine except that it took 12 hours to travel, not to mention we were all stuck at the border for at least an extra hour. I felt as if I was flying back from Toronto to Hong Kong. But to fly would have cost 7 times more, and that hasnt even incl those “taxes and surcharges”! Ouch!

By: ChinaMatt

ChinaMatt — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:51:44 +0000

Noticed something interesting while flying Air Asia the last two weeks–they have advertising for other companies everywhere (even on the outside of the plane). Also, their food and drinks aren’t outrageously expensive…especially when you consider that the flights are less than US$100 including taxes. The major airlines really need to reconsider how they conduct business.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:10:33 +0000

I’m with you on this all the way. I love traveling by train. Many of my most memorable travel experiences have been taking trains. Chicago to Seattle via the Empire Builder and Xi’an to Urumqi come to mind. Both about 2 days and both so surreal and unforgettable.
I think the best thing about train travel is the feeling of actually traveling. After the long ride you really do feel like you’ve made the long distance you have. It’s great stepping off.
The other thing is the people you meet. Whether it’s Chinese soldiers or Katrina victims, being on a train together seems to make everyone friends. (the drinking may have something to do with that too though )
Hell yeah to trains. (although motorcycle travel is up there to )

By: Vance

Vance — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:40:21 +0000

Next time man. It’s always nice to grab a beer with a fellow Canuck. Especially one that has made the great dash across the tundra and wheat. Good job on doing it on the bus. Now a days that is sounding like a dangerous proposition.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=29edf668-dc7f-4a9d-afa7-40dacfdc4e42

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:17:36 +0000

@Chris: rotfl

@Vance: I’ve done the trans-Canada twice West in a car and once back east in a Greyhound, whizzing through Sask. each time and didn’t get enough of it. The Great Plains are pretty awesome in the full sense of the term. I don’t know what it’d be like to live there, but it’s high up on my places to revisit.

BTW: I knew I had spoken to someone in Hangzhou! Was down there just over a week ago, and would have been nice to grab a beer. Next time I guess.

By: Vance

Vance — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Ryan, I am from Saskatchewan, and you just brought a tear to my eye. The kilometers and kilometers of vast wheat and canola fields were something that I rather enjoyed watching while growing up and driving from Saskatoon to granny’s house in Elfros.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:48:35 +0000

Ryan, actually every year there’s a multisport event across the South Island, called the Coast to Coast. The hard ones do it in one day, the rest in two. Trouble with hiking is those bloody orcs.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:48:02 +0000

@Chris: Can’t you just hike across NZ? Hell, hobbits can do it But yeah, highspeed trains are the answer, especially for the short hop flights – NYC->CHI, ATL->BOS, etc.

In Canada we’ve longer stretches with nothing (anyone ever been to Saskatchewan? Trust me… all you can see for miles and miles are miles and miles). But a high speed train would certainly make a decent alternative to flying, and if it was done more accessibly, could actually save time – as you wouldn’t have to get to the airport a couple hours early and spend your time travelling out to the airport in the first place.

@Jay: I agree – not that it hasn’t been referenced a number of times before – but healthcare is a prime example.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:36:52 +0000

It all started to go south (bad) when the airlines were deregulated in the 80s. A totally free market is not always the answer. There’s apparently a role for the government (and the people) after all.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:08:11 +0000

And with all those wide open plains and praires, surely North America is ripe for a decent high speed railway, like France’s TGV or China’s CRH? Perhaps something even faster- both the TGV and CRH have shown 400 km/h is within reach. And surely those mountains are far more spectacular from a train with huge sightseeing windows than from some tin can at high altitude with tiny little portholes? And trains are just so much more fuel efficient….

I’m with you, rail is the way of the future.

I only hope that New Zealand’s next government (which is, unfortunately, likely to be the conservative opposition- they’re still stuck in the last century trying to pretend the Chicago school of economics actually had anything of value to offer the world) has the balls and the brains to properly invest in our newly renationalised railways.