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Train Travel - The Last Bastion of Civility?

On one of my recent cross-country train trips, we experienced serious weather problems - storms, tornado warnings and strong winds. The dining car was damaged and had to be removed and we were ultimately eleven hours late getting into San Francisco. The passengers were somewhat frustrated, concerned about losing hotel rooms or hostel reservations, worried that their friends and relatives would show up way too early to pick them up, and just plain anxious. But furious? - no way. In a rage? - not at all. They appreciated that the train personnel were doing the best they could under difficult circumstances and while they expressed their concern and anxiety to other passengers and to the staff, there was not a single incident of what we as a society have come to know as "rage."

Rage, of the road and airline variety, has become entrenched in our American lexicon. With the increasing congestion of our highways and the problems with delays, cancellations and overbooking facing the air traveler, incidences of anger, hostility and actual violence, both on the road and in the air, are rapidly increasing. Travelers are frustrated, mad, and sometimes downright out of control. Yet on Amtrak, where trains are frequently late and delays, due to weather, mechanical problems and the primacy of freight trains on the rails, one rarely sees examples of anger anywhere near what we are seeing on our roads and in the air.

In my twenty-five years of rail travel, I have only seen three instances of a traveler being removed from a train - twice for intoxication and harassment of personnel and fellow passengers and once for willful violations of safety regulations. In my experience, the travelers on Amtrak act in a more civil and dignified manner, possibly for the following reasons:

First, by the very nature of train travel, the passenger is forced to slow down. There is no expectation that anyone is getting anywhere quickly, so passengers are usually much more philosophical about delays.

Secondly, and this is a big difference from air travel, Amtrak is very good at keeping passengers informed about anticipated delays and, most importantly, the reasons for them. Conversely, airline staff seem to do all they possibly can to keep the passenger uninformed, from professing ignorance to downright lying. This is enough to push the frustration level up a couple of notches.

Lastly, the ambiance on a train, particularly a long-distance train, is very collegial. Passengers usually dine with one or more strangers and there quickly develops a sense of camaraderie. Travelers learn about each other, rather than just remain in their own bubble, like lone automobile drivers. How can you become frustrated with the noise of a baby when you've just had lunch with the mom and she tells you about the slight fever the baby is running? How can you become annoyed with the elderly gentleman who is walking slowly, perhaps too slowly, down the aisle when you just had dinner with him and found out about his role in World War II? And, how can you become enraged about delays when you look outside and see the absolutely incredible scenery, whether it be desert, mountain, coast or prairie. Lastly, there is so much more empathy between passengers and staff and trains than there is on airplanes.

I recently overhead an air traveler comment to his companion that "Travel used to be fun." Well, for this veteran train traveler, travel can still be fun - and relaxing, and productive, and social and just about whatever you want it to be. Next time, just go by train.