Engine, Engine No. 9...

I am currently riding the Acela, the fastest train in the U.S., from NYC to DC. The trip will take approximately 2hrs 45mins to cover a little over two-hundred miles. Last November, during my visit to Spain, I rode several trains, one being the high-speed rail between Madrid and Barcelona. That trip interestingly enough takes roughly the same amount of time as the NYC-D.C. Amtrak trip. However, the distance between Madrid and Barcelona is a bit over three-hundred miles. What gives?

Well of course there are myriad reasons why the U.S. lags behind not just Europe but Asia also. Our love of car culture and collective aversion to robust public funding for things that promote the general welfare (education, transportation, health care...) being chief among them.

Still, it's incredibly embarrassing to note how different train travel is in other industrialized nations. Slate recently had an article detailing how difficult it can be to navigate one's way through Penn Station. Although I've been through Penn countless times, it's rarely to use the railway. I was annoyed at how vague and insufficient the directions were throughout the station. And when you finally get where you're going there's no indication of it. Nothing that loudly broadcasts, "You're at Amtrak!"

How is it that I was able to find my way (easily) through every train station in Spain and Portugal despite speaking absolutely none of either native language? Why is it that for Amtrak the arrival and departure tracks aren't posted until 10-15 minutes before they happen? Why does Penn Station make you feel as if you're wandering around the rebel base on Hoth from Empire? It's all dingy corridors with pipes running every which way. It's not as if we don't have elegant transportation hubs (Grand Central, natch). Why do we just accept such a half-assed barely utilitarian structure? I guess for the same reason we accept higher MTA fares for ever-deteriorating service. Mein gott!

Well at least the Acela comes with free internet (that doesn't allow video or audio streaming; hey look I'm in 1994! The AOL Experience is back! 'You've got mail!'). Ugh...