First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!

Oil hit $120 a barrel today, and the financial pundit class is talking about $200 oil. To quote the wisdom of Mr. T: “My prediction… is pain.”

High oil prices and travel generally don’t mix. But is there any segment that stands to benefit?

Apparently so. Trains!

As the price of fuel skyrockets, more people are traveling to North Carolina’s major cities by train. Ridership on Amtrak is up as much as 40 percent on some routes compared to last year.

40%? Pretty substantial. Perhaps enough to offset the higher cost of diesel.

But how widespread is this as a trend? It’s more likely a phenomenon on shorter, regional routes that would otherwise have been driven. Except for a few diehards, and some gluttons for punishment, most aren’t choosing to take Amtrak from California to Chicago.

Trains becoming more a part of your travelin’ life? Hit the comments.

(image)

Downgraded: Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program
Six weeks ago, I sang the praises of Amtrak’s loyalty program, for the ability to transfer miles between programs with no loss in value. I take it all back. Every last word. As Gary Leff reports, Amtrak has, without warning, changed the terms of their transfers out of the program. Again. This isn’t the first time they’ve changed rules on the fly, without notifying their customers. Bottom line: Amtrak’s program just sucks, sucks, sucks. The managers of the program must take some sadistic pleasure in playing three-card monty with their customers. Ooh, what are the program rules today? How about now? How about now?

Downgraded: Amtrak’s planning and foresight
Amtrak doesn’t just screw with their customers on the loyalty program side of the business. They do it to passengers too. Like running out of fuel between San Diego and Santa Barbara. They required a push from a freight train to reach their destination. Granted, Amtrak has historically been given minimal resources to make it work, but filling the tank seems like a basic calculation.

Downgraded: American Airlines’ new business class
I haven’t flown it, but I was skeptical when I saw the photos. Now AA-loyalist Will Allen writes his review of the new AA business class “lie flat” (but not horizontal) seats, and it’s not glowing.

Downgraded: Arbor Day
Las Vegas man found guilty of secretly cutting down 500 trees because they blocked his view of the Strip. Noted without comment.

Upgraded: Blogger junkets
The Cranky Flier got to fly on the Airbus A380 as it flew around LA airspace. Fun! His detailed report is here. Sweet. Not to be outdone, I hereby challenge Richard Branson to send this blogger to space on Virgin Galactic. Use the contact form, Richard. Top right of the sidebar.

A bizarre little video snippet from the heart of YouTube: A train cruises through the center of a Bangkok street market. The last few seconds are surreal.

Gives new meaning to drive-through…

New York passes passenger bill of rights
It’s official: New York governor Eliot Spitzer signed a passengers’ bill of rights, which kicks in January 1 for flights grounded for three or more hours at New York airports. Note that the law won’t require airlines to allow people off the planes after three hours. Rather, it will require that the airline keep the toilets clean and the beverages flowing — thereby creating a roundabout requirement for airlines to link back up to the terminal. Lawsuits will fly. Pass the popcorn.

But the fact that this is a local law, and not a federal one, is absurd. Will we now need a separate contract of carriage for every possible way station on our trips? I’m all for states taking the initiative when the federal government won’t act (think California emissions), but laws like this one or the Chicago bill just indicate how broken the system is, from top to bottom. Those “customer service plans” that the airlines have offered up as a self-regulation alternative haven’t done the job, and Congress hasn’t acted quickly enough to address the systemic problems — air traffic control as well as passenger rights. We’ll see if this lights a fire under the collective asses of our legislative branch.

How to make Amtrak fun again: Free booze!
Drunken passengers are happy passengers. So says Amtrak, which is offering $100 in free drink vouchers for long-haul sleeper car trips. Sponsored in part by “Night Train”?

Virgin America debuts tomorrow
Tomorrow is Virgin America’s first flight. Anyone out there flying them on day one? (or heck, week one?) Hit the comments and tell the tale!

Following up on yesterday’s French rail speed record, reader Randy offers this challenge:

That’s a fast train, but is it too fast to surf it?

Huh? That’s right: trainsurfing. Extreme transportation!

Check out this video of a kid who rides caboose on an ICE high-speed train in Germany. He actually rides on the sloped back of the train as it speeds along. (Cheesy soundtrack, but quite a video.)

Madness!

(Thanks to reader Randy!)

The SNCF, France’s national rail company, set the record for the fastest steel-wheel train (i.e., not magnetic-levitation train) in the world, with a high speed of 574.8 kilometers per hour (357 mph). Quite a way to break in the new Paris-Strasbourg line!

Watching this, I’m struck by the excitement of the French announcers as they give the play-by-play of a train zipping through the countryside.

I’m also impressed by the closeup of the train’s wheels on the rails. So smooth and straight. Then I think of poor, pathetic, underfunded, unloved Amtrak. Or worse, the Chicago Transit Authority’s blue line, as it chugs along to O’Hare, shaking back and forth on its rickety tracks. Sigh. American rail is hardly a source of national pride.

It would be great to have a rail alternative for short- to medium-length flights. With speeds like the new TGV, rail service would be a viable alternative between American cities, but, regrettably, I just don’t see it ever happening here.

Click to view the video. (en francais) They hit the record speed in the last minute of the tape or so.

Thought you could avoid TSA security checks by riding the rails? Think again.

The TSA has started searching random passengers at Buffalo, New York train stations, wanding people for explosives. If you refuse, you’re banned from the station, and from traveling on Amtrak.

Searches aren’t random, but “risk-based.” For now, it’s only an experiment through the end of November, but other rail stations across the country should expect similar spot-checks over the coming months. How long before the first incident of ethnic profiling?

To channel Mr. T: My prediction… is pain.

(via USA Today)