My Dad and his wife came to visit last weekend. With gas prices being so high, I suggested they look into taking the train from Detroit to the Chicago area. The round-trip price per person: $150 USD. That's on Memorial Day weekend though. I checked the price again this week. The round-trip price per person: $48 (with AAA discount).
Looks like some people are getting a clue about internet access on trains. Now to wait for the feasibility study to be performed, published, analyzed and mulled over. Hopefully out of that we get some access one day. Having to work offline for 5 hours requires me to grab a lot of things locally that I wouldn't have to normally.
Looks like Amtrak is also renting movie players (with movies) at some stations. Though it sounds like you have to arrange for this at the station, which would be a nuisance, because most people will be worried about missing their train as opposed to reserving their player. I think this is more of an after-thought...
Anyway, I've always said I love the trains. I just wish someone had thought up these possibilities sooner.
Trains have always struck me as bizarrely behind the times when it comes to this kind of stuff. Airlines caught on to the amenities thing practically from the get go, but that was more to alleviate the public’s abject terror at the thought of loading into a metal box and hurtling across the sky.