Reply #12: I agree that it's a real problem

[harmonicon]

The Amtrak line that I ride on (and rarely) is plagued with delays. My last trip on it the train was a few hours late... sometimes it's worse, and sometimes it's ok. Now when I fly into Chicago, instead of taking Amtrak to where I need to go, I take the South Shore line 1/2 of the way and get a ride the other half. The problem is that when time is tight, Amtrak can not be depended on. Sure, here in the UK delays frequently happen, but not delays of hours ... there would be another train scheduled before that could even happen. Yes, it takes longer than driving, but you get from city center to city center quickly, don't have to worry about parking, etc. I would travel more in the US if it had a reliable rail network.