There are a lot of misses in the current Amtrak map. Las Vegas, which Brightline is making progress on. But one of the biggest has gotta be the station in Maricopa instead of Phoenix. Ridiculous that this route has been broken for decades. (Biden’s infrastructure deal will eventually fix it.)
Jorge @manton Yeah, after visiting Japan last year I realize how little train travel is part of our culture. Miami and Atlanta are the two largest cities in the Southeast, and yet Amtrak takes 2 days because there's no direct route (driving is about 10 hrs).
Jeff Gamet @manton Amtrak from Denver to Los Angeles includes a long bus ride into New Mexico where you wait on a concrete slab outside Raton without any information about when your train will show up. Alternately, you can avoid the bus by taking the train to somewhere in Illinois and then back to LA. It's kind of crazy how limited the rail options are.
Manton Reece @jgamet In theory you can also go Denver to San Francisco, then transfer down to LA, but it probably takes longer. I like trains to avoid planes and buses, so combining any of them defeats the purpose. 🙂
Jeff Gamet @manton If Denver wasn't a passenger train desert I’d definitely use them for more than a fun getaway to Colorado's western slope.