At what distance in the US is the plane faster than the train?

I live in Northern Virginia, but travel to NYC enough to where it makes me ask, which mode of travel - car, train, or plane will get me from my door to Times Square the fastest. It seems fairly even, but I wonder how far one needs to travel for the plane to beat the train

Best Answer

I often heard that for any station-to-station travel time under 3 hours, the train beats the plane and can capture most of the business travelers. This is supposedly the rule that was used when planning the early stages of the TGV train network in France (sorry, no authoritative source to back that up). This does seem to explain many design choices (building costly new lines on only part of the way to reach a key destination in time but not quicker, having some direct trains that do not stop at all before the final destination, etc.)

In the US I am not sure how much can be covered in that time but in Europe, at current train speeds, this means between 750 and 1000 km. For a plane, this translates to 1 hour in the air give or take but if you factor in check-in, security, walking in the airport, taxiing, travel to the airport and unavoidable waiting time in-between, the train can still be very attractive time-wise.

Small trivia: If you study maps carefully you might notice that many European train stations are in fact located along the limit of the densest core of the city in the 19th century. They are now fully enclosed in the city and much closer to the center than most large airports but still not exactly in the historical core of the city.

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At what distance in the US is the plane faster than the train? - Photo of Airplane Flying Through the Sky

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At what distance in the US is the plane faster than the train? - Black and White Photo of a Flying Airplane

How much faster is an airplane than a train?

But when you factor in total travel time, flying actually takes about 14 minutes longer one way: 3 hours and 38 minutes for the train and 3 hours and 52 minutes for the plane. The train also wins when it comes to cost: $188 on Amtrak6 and $291 on the airlines.

Do airplanes go faster than trains?

Your time is yours. With high-speed rail, train travel is always faster than driving. In many cases, it's even faster than flying, once you factor in the whole air travel song-and-dance. And if you do need to catch a plane, trains make it easier to get to the airport.

Is train slower than plane?

Travellers are beginning to shy away from flying, not only because trains are more comfortable, more punctual, often cheaper and easier to catch, but also in many cases, as travel search engine Omio (formerly GoEuro) has found, trains are actually faster.

Is it better to travel by train or plane?

Train travel is often cheaper than flying (especially since you can take more with you before paying extra baggage fees). And it can be more convenient than driving \u2014 especially if you'd be driving in an unfamiliar place or having to drive for hours and hours nonstop to get to your destination.

Train vs. Plane RACE Between DC and NYC

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Images: Kelly, Athena, Athena, Malcolm Garret