Rail travel looking like a better option

When Steve Beyers flew to Rapid City, S.D., for a recent business meeting, he spent more time in airports than he did at his meetings. It started out with a security glitch at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport that caused him to nearly miss his flight. He arrived at his gate barely 10 minutes before departure. The agent chastised him for not arriving earlier, but reluctantly let him board. Because he couldn't get a direct flight to Rapid City, Steve was routed through Denver. It turned out Denver had bad weather and the airport closed. So Steve sat on the aircraft waiting for clearance.

After an hour of sitting on the ground, agents deplaned the passengers and booked them on a later flight that arrived in Denver too late to make any connections. Steve spent the night at a nearby hotel, which doubled the cost of the ticket. Steve says, in the future, instead of booking air travel, he'll let his fingers do the flying and use the phone. His meeting wasn't worth the hassle.

Mary Ann Gutterman agrees, but not because of delays. Because of service. According to Mary Ann, all the amenities that made flying an easy way to travel have been removed. No more meals. No more comfortable seats. No more magazines. And if Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryannair, has his way, we could be saying so long to in-flight bathrooms, or at least free ones. According to a recent story, he plans to remove two of the three bathrooms on his planes and put a meter on the third one that might cost travelers as much as a $1.65 to use. He's also considering charging for air sick bags, which could leave nobody holding the bag. It's a disgusting thought, but I digress.

With fuel prices back on the rise, the airlines are looking for new ways to cut costs. That translates to cutbacks in flight service, as well as frequency of flights. This makes business travel even more inconvenient and is causing the business traveler to look for new ways of connecting.

Last week, my New York cousin Jimmy had a business meeting in Washington D.C., which he attends at least once a week. Usually he flies a commuter flight from LaGuardia International Airport to Reagan National Airport. But nearly every time he flies, the flight is either delayed or security is a nightmare. When he arrives, he feels like he needs a nap before he goes to his meeting.

But last week was different. Jimmy flew without ever leaving the ground. Instead of grabbing a cab and fighting traffic to get to the airport, he walked to Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan and rode the rails.

According to Jimmy, it was the first pleasant trip he's had in months. And when you figured all the prep time required for air travel, the train was faster. He didn't have to arrive two hours early at the railroad station. He didn't have to stand in long lines waiting to get through security. He didn't have to get rid of beverages or remove his shoes. Nobody checked his bags. He just had to be there when the train left the station. He had a window seat and it didn't cost him extra. And there was no talk of putting a meter on the lavatory.

Riding the rails has always been a viable option in Europe. Instead of pouring more money into failing airlines, perhaps it's time our government gave a little more thought to improving our train service. After all the abuse air travelers face these days, it might be nice to try "tracking" our flights in an entirely different way.

Gail Todd, a free-lance writer,worked as a flight attendant for more than 30years. She can be reached via e-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.