This weekend I rode on Amtrak for the first time for a trip to Kansas City to visit Justin and Ashley. I have to say that I was quite satisfied with the experience. The round-trip ticket from StL to KC cost $52, about $10 more than I would expect to pay for gas. The trip was also longer (5 hours and 40 minutes vs. ~4 hours), but I didn't have to drive (w00t). The accomodations on the train were pretty good - there's lots of space between the seats, and a 120-volt outlet is provided for every seat. The ride was also surprisingly quiet - the loudest part was when they would blow the horn. I would definitely consider using Amtrak more in the future, but the only major cities with direct service from the Lou are KC and Chicago.
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I have always found Amtrak a delightful experience - and I was once delayed 5 hours on a train due to flooding in Virginia. If you would like to see expanded passenger rail opportunities from the St. Louis area, you should get behind the Obama Administration's high speed rail initiatives that will put $13 billion towards upgrading and expanding the rail network. Better yet, support the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, which will put an additional $50 billion towards linking our country with faster trains. If high speed rail became a reality, having to travel to hubs in Chi-town or KC to access other cities around the country wouldn't take very long at all.
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