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Train Travel / Trains / WiFi / Amtrak / Travel Tech / Tech Travel / On-Track WiFi / → All Tags

The Only Thing Going Faster on Amtrak is the WiFi

Riding the US rails just got a little bit better, as Amtrak is reaching into their pockets to pay for a little bit of a technology upgrade.

Travelers must be enjoying the WiFi and other in-train offerings, so the decision has been made to boost the connection options and speeds in hopes of attracting even more in-train WiFi fans.

Amtrak leans on cellular carriers to grab their WiFi signal, so we’re sure there will still be some dead spots or other areas where things aren’t ideal. Still, we can’t really complain given the price—WiFi is free aboard Amtrak.

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Train Stations / Philadelphia Travel / Train Travel / → All Tags

Philly's 30th Street Station Spruces Up For National Train Day

If you're going to be in Philly this weekend and are looking for something fun to take the kids to (or you just happen to really love train stations), then here's something to add to the ol' itinerary. 30th Street Station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of 200 stations celebrating National Train Day this Saturday May 11th.

The theme of this year's event, which will be taking place simultaneously in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington DC (just to name a few), is "trains matter." Well, duh. We could've told you that!

Still, the event offers Amtrak an opportunity to bask in its own glory for a brief moment, and celebrate the 31.2 million passengers who used the national rail service in 2012.

Last year, Philly's 30th Street Station hosted a day-long event with model train displays, giveaways, and culinary demonstrations of meals served in Amtrak dining cars—so you can expect much of the same this year. Additionally, the station will be offering tours of private luxury railcars, in case you've never been in one of those before.

Regardless, 30th Street Station is a must-see train station, and one of our favorites that we've traveled through. Not only is it the second most active station in the entire US, its gorgeous main terminal is on par with that of Grand Central, in terms of soaring ceilings, giant windows, and the pleasant hum of commuters shuffling by all day long. There's even a KAWS statue at one end of the terminal!

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Train Travel / Eurostar / High-Speed Trains / London Travel / Paris Travel / Channel Tunnel / France Travel / Business Class Travel / → All Tags

London to Paris by Eurostar: Onboard the Train

Come 2015, it will be 20 years since Eurostar started services through the Channel Tunnel between London and Paris and Brussels. This week, we're having a look at what the rail link is like today.

We’ve told you what to expect at both London St. Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord stations, so now it’s time to talk train.

London to Paris is a journey of about two and a half hours, of which you’ll spend 20-25 minutes in the Channel Tunnel. Traveling on Eurostar, you have a choice of three classes of service: Standard, Standard Premier, and Business Premier. We’ve traveled in all of them on various occasions, and sampled both Business Premier and Standard Premier on this trip.

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Train Travel / Eurostar / High-Speed Trains / London Travel / Paris Travel / Channel Tunnel / France Travel / Business Class Travel / → All Tags

London to Paris by Eurostar: Inside the Stations and Lounges

Come 2015, it will be 20 years since Eurostar started services through the Channel Tunnel between London and Paris and Brussels. This week, we're having a look at what the rail link is like today.

If you've never experienced zooming along at 200 mph while watching the landscape zip by, a high-speed train journey is really something you should try and fit into any European trip (or elsewhere) if you can. It's more than a bucketlist experience; sometimes it's just the best way to get where you're going.

Last week, we hopped on the Eurostar on its most popular route between London's St. Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord train stations, and here's what happened...

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Train Travel / Amsterdam Travel / Thalys / TGV / Business Class Travel / → All Tags

A Peek Inside the High-Speed Train Lounge at Amsterdam’s Centraal Station

Who knew that Amsterdam had such a sleek first-class lounge at its Centraal rail station? If you’re carrying an international first-class ticket on the NS Hispeed, Thalys, ICE International, Eurostar or TGV trains, you’re granted access into this little hotbed of red to while away the time before you board.

The lounge has some amusements including international papers and magazine, TV screens tuned to the news, and sockets to plug in your laptop, along with free WiFi. You can also rent a meeting room if need be.

The décor is predominantly Holland flag-red (yes, we did make that up but that really is the color) with some dark wood and grey thrown in as well. There's a variety of seating options for plopping yourself down, too: sofas, tables and chairs, or a bar area.

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Travel Tech / New York City / Train Travel / Public Transportation / Subways / → All Tags

New York City's Subway Station Maps Finally Enter the 21st Century

For tourists and locals traveling below the streets of New York City, there’s a new way to get around the massive subway system. The traditional subway map is getting an upgrade, and that means they’ll finally replace some of those printed ones that have long been missing information due to too many people running their fingers along popular routes.

Digital maps have already invaded some subway stops, like Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center stop over in Brooklyn, but now the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is planning to hook up stops with at least 77 more touchscreen "On the Go!" panels.

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Bus Travel / Train Travel / Comedy Travel / The Onion / Videos / → All Tags

High-Speed Bus Travel, as Imagined by 'The Onion'

Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan

Stop whatever you're doing (oh wait, you're reading this). Watch this video from The Onion.

Try to remember that The Onion—despite their proficiency at reporting news—is a source which reports only fake news. Yes, the Velocibus is only a funny concept to riff on the United States' inability to make high-speed rail travel happen.

It has happened before (on the street in Chicago) that we've found ourselves explaining to a stranger that The Onion is not real news, but all a big joke. This time, however, we'd just go along with it.

Train Travel / Amtrak / Boston Travel / Amtrak Acela / → All Tags

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, for Amtrak Waves of Grain...

Take a train through Europe, and you're bound to follow sparkling rivers near castles or dart through tunnels bored into scenes from a Tuscan dream. Take a train through the United States, and you're going to see lots of backyards with algae-green above-ground swimming pools, and Wal-Mart parking lots.

Okay so we're exaggerating a little, because sometimes, from the train window, you do get to see what's promised in "America, The Beautiful:"

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain...

This scene is exactly what kept us company through some of a recent Acela ride from New York to Boston. For a $120 one-way ride, the view better be worth it.

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Train Travel / Amtrak / Amtrak Acela / Videos / Travel Ads / → All Tags

Oh Snap. Amtrak Takes Subtle Digs at Air Travel in New Ad

Speaking of high-speed trains, Amtrak is hoping you'll fall for their newest ad campaign, which involves making sly jabs at air travel.

The commercial, which will soon be interrupting your favorite TV program, shows off their high-speed Acela service on the East Coast. All statuses show "On Time," passengers move freely move about the train, using their electronic devices, and some even head to the bar car for socializing. All this—Amtrak subtly reminds you—is the rule on their trains, but the exception when you chose to be bound by the rules of flying.

There's just one problem. Travelers who have taken the Acela before won't be fooled. For example, we just hopped an Acela last month, traveling from New York to Boston, and our train was delayed an hour. The WiFI onboard may have been free, but it wasn't speedy enough for us to work as normal, so we did end up spending much of the time in the bar car, our hands sticky with spilled coffee as we attempted to add sugar while the train rocked ahead, not nearly traveling at "high-speed" speeds.

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Train Travel / France Travel / High-Speed Rail / TGV / SNCF / → All Tags

Why €10 is the New Price for France's Main High-Speed Train

It was really only a matter of time, but it's finally happened and the world now has some low-cost, high-speed rail options...in France. Have a few Euros in your pocket and need to head from Paris to the French Riviera? Well, it can actually happen now, thanks to Ouigo (pronounced wee-go), a train from the SNCF designed to bring affordable travel to all.

Starting April 3rd, the super-fast TGV train is launching its low-cost tickets from Paris to Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier at an absolute steal of 10 Euros each way. Since there are a few stops in between these cities, a weekend get-away in Provence is not out of the question.

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New York City / Cheap NYC / Historical Travel / Train Travel / → All Tags

13 Awesome Grand Central Station Facts for its 100th Anniversary

"There's not a better looking centenarian in the world." - NYC Mayor Bloomberg

He's not speaking of someone, but something as New York City's Grand Central Station turned the big 100 today, February 1. There was much celebration in the main hall, with musical performances and speeches, but businesses within the station got in on the fun by offering some specials at 1913 prices (15 cent NY cheesecake slices at the Oyster Bar!).

We toasted the old dame last night, from the Cipriani Dolci balcony, but it's not a proper Jaunted well-wishing until we roll out the travel facts.

13 Grand Central Station facts (because it opened February 1, 1913):

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Videos / Train Travel / Norway Travel / Awesome Stuff / → All Tags

Video Interlude: Traveling Norway's Rail Lines in Time-Lapse

We’re the first to admit that we are suckers for any kind of travel video, and we usually fall head over heels when it involves time-lapse photography. This week we’re wasting minute after minute thanks to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation—NRK.

Basically they took a whole bunch of pictures and videos from one of the most northern stretches of Norway’s railroad system. It’s the one that kind of links Trondheim over with Bodø. Then through the magic of technology they smooshed things into about a minute, so that you can see what it’s like to take the train through the countryside—and through four seasons—in just seconds.

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