When you take a plane, the destination is what the trip is all about, however, when you take a train, the journey is just as important as the destination. I love experiencing the journey. Trains are great!

When you left Boston in the morning you were going opposite the direction of commuter traffic. Most people getting on in Boston at that hour would probably be heading to NYC so they would prefer the Acela. As you got closer to NYC you started to pick up commuters but it was already after rush hour. Once you got to NYC you picked up all the normal daytime traffic who missed the morning Acela and didn’t want to wait an hour, or wanted to go somewhere the Acela doesn’t serve. By the time you got to DC you were again heading opposite of the commuter traffic, which would be leaving the city. So by the nature of going end to end, you missed the most crowded times and segments. If you started in CT or NJ and went towards NYC at 7am, you’d see how crowded those trains can get. I did two years of that commute every day, an hour each way, and I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore!

I'm from London, UK and took the Northeast Regional as part of an itinerary across the USA (from DC to NYC) and was surprisingly impressed by the punctuality, comfort and speed of it considering I paid just $40 for a "coach" fare. was cheaper, more convenient and just about as quick as the plane.

6:46 from my experiences, coach class on the northeast regional is much more packed than business class.

Absolutely can't wait for the 10 episode train journey. Looking forward to it!

I just read on a travel blog this morning that the Ethan Allen Express (the "least travelled route" you recently traveled on) is being extended to Burlington, Vermont (which hasn't had rail service since 1953).

Exactly high-speed rail is effective at connecting communities. I mean China is a pretty big country and look how vast their system is! If they can do it, so can we! But like the rails that connect people, we need to come together, cooperate, and change perspectives in order to make the societal change America needs. Trains connected the country first before highways did, they're just as much of a part of American history as the revolution.

FUN FACT : 11A is the seat that Via Rail reserves either for people traveling with their cat or who redeem a trip with points on the Québec-Montréal trains, so i've ridden 11A twice this month and will ride it again on July 1st with my cat Merri 💜

I typically take the northeast regional from Baltimore to NYC but last fall I took it all the way up to Boston. Absolutely incredible with the leaves changing color along that Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts stretch.

The running along the beach in Connecticut is a great part of the route. South Station was gutted in the late 1980s and only the façade remains. For a great station, check out 30th Street, Philadelphia inside and out!

Love the series! USA needs more high speed rail!

Now that's a proper train running at proper speeds! I realize that the US needs more high speed rail for real effectiveness, but this was a decent start, from my European perspective 😁. Looking forward to the series! Very impressed that you'll travel all the way over to Alaska by rail!

These videos are awesome, the editing and commentary is super engaging

The Northeast Regional isn‘t just one specific train line, but rather a network of lines with a common core, that being the NEC. Northeast Regionals also serve several destinations in Virginia, and I think some trains to Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA are also part of the Northeast Regional. That means the ridership numbers don’t apply to specific NE Regional services, but the whole range, making them higher than they might otherwise be.

I am on the Northeast Regional almost on a monthly basis. Usually from Philadelphia to DC. I've done Philadelphia to Boston a few times so far. For us living along the Northeast corridor, train travel is the most practical way to travel between all the major cities in the Northeast United States. All 4 cities aren't that crazy far apart but still too far to drive and too short to fly. So train is practical.

Yeah when I explain to people that we have trains up here that can go 150 and even the "slower" amtrak trains on the corridor can do 125 it kind of surprises them. The Regional and the Acela are both pretty much longer distanced commuter trains, at least that's the way they're treated up here. Rarely people go Boston to DC, but instead do Boston-New Haven or NYC/ NHV-NYC/Philly, NYC-Philly/DC. Then you can understand why pre-pandemic the NEC had almost 13 million passengers Enjoyed the video, hope you have the chance to ride the Acela at some point

Can’t wait for the 10 part US train series! Loved the Canada series!!

If you had stayed on the Northeast Regional in Washington DC, you would have ended your trip in Norfolk Virginia. That station is just a few minutes from our home. That is the train we take when going to Washington DC and New York. Once we took it to Baltimore to catch a cruise shop in that port. Love your channel, and am looking froward to your next adventure.

Loved your last video about the least used Amtrak train route, so am really excited to watch this one!! Edit: I've taken the northeast regional many times from DC to NYC - an easy trip, and can be very cost effective if you buy early and then you don't have to worry about a car in the city.

Hey Downie I just signed the petition for the high speed rail and I noticed they are at 92% so many signatures are still needed. Thank you for suggesting signing the petition and why it’s greatly needed. By the way I just discovered you when I was trying to get information on taking the Amtrak for the first time in my life. My trip is coming up in a few months. Thanks also for giving such detailed scoop of the train experiences and making it very entertaining as well!!!! 😊

South Station looks like its having construction done. Its a shame you didn't get to see the beautiful wood seating it used to have and the giant gorgeous clock. I used to go out of my way to go to South Station instead of a different one to get home from work each day. Love watching your videos!

As profitable as Accela and NER are, I'm surprised that Amtrak hasn't done more to acquire more track corridors. It makes a big difference when you can set and keep your own schedules.

As someone originally from Delaware, I admit that I did get briefly excited when you mentioned Delaware. Also, I recently took a roomette from Wilmington to Miami and am planning a trip on the California Zephyr due to some inspiration from you and other train youtubers. Keep making the videos and I'll keep watching 😀

I live in Norfolk, Va. We have at least 8 trains each day. Our trains only go North to or South from either New York or Boston. I've ridden that section of track many times. My next trip is DC in August/ September. Kind of wish we had a train that went West or South, but Amtrak has other priorities.

Part of it's popularity has to be that it's only an hour longer to go by train than to drive. But if you think of an Amtrak route like NOLA to Chicago the time difference between driving and taking the train is huge even if it is bang on time.

You just made my week with that announcement! 10 great train adventures episodes from the best Canadian KZfaqr!!

As someone who has taken the commuter rail into and out of Boston's South Station for two decades now, I can assure you that the station has looked better and will look better again -- you visited right in the middle of a massive multi-year construction project that has definitely impacted the look and feel of the station itself. Hopefully you can try again in a few years to see the finished results!

America needs more light rail and subway. Love taking the train. Makes no sense to pay $5 a gas, pay for car insurance, pay a car payment when you can have a monthly rail pass.

As a Boston-ite, I LOVE this route! Makes it so easy (and beautiful) to pop over to nearby towns in the area. Recently went to and from New Haven in a single day to visit a friend and didn't even have to take off work thanks to being able to work with the WiFi on the train.

As a train geek myself, I truely love your train related videos! Please keep them coming! Thanks for sharing, and amazing work likes always, Mike.

10:19 "Smoked 'em" was perfect comedic pitch and timing.😂 Yet another reason we love that you let us travel with you!

Looking forward to the new 10 part series! in 2005 I travelled for 7 weeks on Amtrak, as a visitor, the rail pass was such a cheap way to get around, and adding Roomettes to the ticket made for excellent value... I travelled New York - Chicago - Seattle - San Francisco - LA - Chicago - New York - Washington DC - New York... One hell of a trip, but amazing!

We don't have high-speed rail yet (our southern half does though) but we do hope to be able to reopen the lines going south from Pyongyang to Seoul and beyond. We hoped this would happen with President Moon Jae-in when he was in charge of the south but alas, things got in the way. Northeast Regional trains can go fast because the Northeast Corridor is electrified (hence the wires). That's why people who live along lines that use diesel trains advocate for those lines to be electrified, because it makes a big difference.

Amtrak ridership is still heavily down in the post-Covid world, so on top of going the "wrong way" with your train goes a long way to explaining why it's relatively quiet for you. Enjoyed the vid!

LOVE the NER!! Great value and still pretty fast (for North America at least, lol). I've gotten some insane deals

I take this train so often it’s eerie to watch it in a video because i don’t notice so many smaller details 😂

The Northeasst Regional actually continues on down to Norfolk VA. And BTW I sat in seat 11A from NYC to Norfolk about three weeks ago. Love your series. Also, in DC the train changes from electric to diesel.

I think you'll have a great time, Mike. So many things to see as you travel. If you do it like the Canada trip, you'll visit offbeat things in each city. We your fans will enjoy that.

Tip for not sloshing your coffee while opening the automatic doors: there’s a “kick plate” button near the floor that acts the same as the one at hand level.

My wife and I rode Acela Amtrak. I looked at the mobile speed app showing 151 MPH last Sept 2019. Thumbs up! Cheers!

I took this train about 3 years ago to NYC from CT, it was my first time on a train and I was very impressed.

Look forward to the new series on all of Amtrak's trains in America. 😀

Great video Mike! Can't wait for the 10 day train ride from Florida to Alaska!

Sure wish we had high speed rail here in Canada!

Hey mike! I’m born and raised from Victoria, BC, now live in Boston for work. Just want to say I love your channel, fellow train enthusiast and love vicariously living through your journeys. Keep up the great work dude!! If back in Boston, try out the Downeaster (going up to Maine), Portland is a fun detour :)

Just looked it up and did some research, the southernmost station in the US is dadeland south, but the most southern “actual train” station is bright-line Miami central

3rd state of the day and you hadn’t even finished your coffee🤣 And the way you managed opening the door with your coffee was priceless!

I like that the highspeed rail aliance have a picture of a swedish commuter train. It is called a pågatåg and operates in the most souhern part of sweden

Nice video! I just took the Acela from Washington to Boston for spring break. The Regionals we saw along the way were absolutely packed.

Looking forward to your US travel series! I learned a lot from your Canadian one. I've not been on the same train but I took the same route, Charlotte NC to Washington DC to NYC and a different train on the same route on the return.

Just rode the Northeast Regional end to end both ways last week. It gets pretty packed on the weekend, and the mac and cheese from the cafe car is solid

I live in New Rochelle right now, and since I'm the last stop before Penn, sometimes it's tempting to ride, until I remember that if I didn't book ahead of time, it's (about) 4x the price of the Metro-North New Haven Line, which runs through New Rochelle and ends at Grand Central. Sometimes, though, that speed, and the convenience of not having to transfer via subway to Penn from Grand Central, makes it worth it. 🙏

Actually the last stop in Rhode Island is West Kingston, Rhode Island. When my wife and I visit family in Rhode Island. We take Amtrak to New York but like in my last post, from Boston to Providence.

Mike, It's nice to see you departing from my old stomping grounds. Before retiring from my job as a firefighter in Shrewsbury, which is my home town, for a few years I had a part time job driving a motorcoach for an interstate bus company based in Springfield, Ma. At the time, the company had an operating division just outside Worcester, so I was in and out of South Station a lot. When does "Travels By Train USA" start? I watched the first season of the show, and didn't miss an episode. I'm looking forward to the second season.

Oh yes, Downie is back with Amtrak! Something I should say about Acela is that its fast but it doesn’t let you get a big adventure unlike the Northeast Regional

One of the reasons for the high counts on the NE Regional is that it is multiple trains leaving at different times. Between NYC and Philly we hit the highest speed that we traveled in the oldest Budd Stainless car that met Amtrak's specs. We hit 115 MPH although the limit for the car was supposed to be 110MPH. We had left Boston's South Station like you did with the engineer being told that by the conductor as the engineer wondered if he was going to be limited to 90MPH as some older private passenger cars are.

Hey Mike! Another excellent video. So looking forward to series 2 of Downie Live travels by train (USA) Excited to see Will in the clip too lol! xxx

Can’t wait for more of the Mike and Will show! That’s gonna be a great trip!

The journey is the highlight, not the destination. You proved this in a great video.

Unfortunate that Amtrak doesn't tell you about reduced window visibility, here Deutsche Bahn always tells you if you have reduced window access with your seat.

This 10 episode train adventure you are talking about has me excited. Can’t wait 😀

Haha I was on the NE Regional from Boston to NYC just last month!! Very good value when booked in advance and so much less hassle going city centre to city centre cf flying 👍 Your new series crossing America sounds great, looking forward to it.

30th St. Station in Philly is perpetually damp. Something to do with being directly next to the river, with the station base being just above the waterline by a few feet... :D

I take this train from MA to visit a friend in New London CT frequently and as inglorious as is it I don’t have to drive! So I adore it

So excited for the ten day trip!!! As a Canadian that has never seen much of Canada, you inspired me to travel across the country to experience more of the culture and beauty that we have here. Not only that, but you’ve inspired me to vlog those experiences so that I could show other exactly what you’ve shown me! I can’t wait to see your next adventures Michael!

I’m looking forward to the series Mike. Hope Will makes an appearance.

Take this route all the time. However when the Amtrak is passing through CT especially the Metro North commuter corridor, the tracks are owned partially by the CT DOT and the MTA.

Downie, not only do you make top tier entertaining content for me and others to watch for free but you've also educated me and others about Canada (my favorite series) and another great way of travel that personally I'd forgot about since I've only been on two trains as a kid.

Hey Mike, super excited for the new series. The US has some beautiful landscapes. Downie live rides Europe by train?

Parts of the ride from Boston to New York are fun, along the water in the fog. The Northeast Regionals change to diesel and continue south into Virginia (there is a station a mile from where I live.) Can't wait for the ride from corner to corner.

Very interesting whirlwind trip. Can't wait for the 10 episode Miami/Fairbanks venture.

Finally a video sponsor that has something in common with the video now thats quality and is how advertising should work

Can we all appreciate the fact that Mike never disappointed us with his travel content. 😊😊😊

I actually have pretty severe anxiety for traveling by train, yet strangely your videos are so relaxing to me and make me feel like I can also do this one day. I guess what I want to say is thank you for making these videos, and for taking us along on your adventures. You're making me want to challenge myself and go ride a train again, and that's huge!

The LEVEL of detail you put in these videos is amazing!!! Keep up the good work Downie!!!

The NE regional is defiantly the most convenient way to go to any of the major cities along the way, with the exception of Baltimore you can even get around most of them without worrying about using a car.

As always Mike, your videos are inspiring and positive. Thank you for continuing to do incredible adventurous work.

Boston to Washington DC is an area known as a megalopolis, essentially a continuous city. If you look at it on a world at night type map you’ll see the solid lights up the east coast. I’m super excited for the Florida to Alaska!!

I take this train a couple of times a year. I live in DC and have friends in Boston. I love it. If I book in advance, it's cheaper than flying; TSA doesn't create delays. In practice, if I include the difference in time between downtown and the airport, it's only an hour faster to fly.

my dad rode this train for many, many years going into NYC for work.

i definitely do not giv a fuck abt building highspeed rail when states will tax their citizens into poverty to do it, and then charge 100/ticket to ride it. Its extremely near sighted and childish for you to excitedly promote building of new rail like its asking disney to build a new star wars ride. There are so many issues at the state and city level that lead to unwalkability in our cities, which then makes building HSR nonpriority. Just signing you email to some vague list saying "pwetty pwease i wike twains" does nothing but give the state to have a reason to destroy our lives with those said taxes.

The timing of this video was everything. I’m on the Northeast regional now. NYC to DC.

Really excited for that 10 episode series! Nice videos! We're from the Philippines and started loving long train rides when we moved in Toronto. So I was stoked when I discovered your channel! Keep it up! 🙌

You're definitely the long distance version of Distant Signal...Very entertaining and informative.You focus on things most wouldn't even notice and draw their interest.Its all in how you tell your story ❤💯❤💯

Not only popular but falling in love with every time I was with Amtrak...💖

Absolutely great video, and we both have in common how we explored Rhode Island, I did the exact same route with Amtrak from Boston to New Haven and I love this ride in the evening, you can enjoy an awesome sunset. Hope to see more trains in America like in the Northeast Corridor soon, can't wait! 6:27 passengers per year ;)

Will be taking my first Amtrak adventure on the Northeast Regional from Newport News VA to Baltimore MD. Can't wait.

This is the one train we took (Boston to New London) on our US trip. Next time we're going to do the whole thing. Looking forward to the south to north series! That's something hubby and I would love to try! Thanks Mike.

It's popular because (1) it's reasonably fast, compared with road traffic, (2) It runs through the most populated parts of the USA, running to exceedingly busy cities, and (3) the fares make it reasonable compared to the cost of driving and parking charges for those journeys.

I'm so excited for your next journey, Mike. I am so hooked and slways look forward to your videos each week. You have to be the most entertaining KZfaq travel host out there. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to your craft. From Dallas, Oregon USA

In business class of Northeast regional, you have the choice of selecting your seat. So, next time you can choose a seat with full window view if the car is not sold out.

My anxiety spikes every time you get off the train. Haha. Great video!

And you had the Phase 3 wrapped ACS-64. Very nice.

I took the Northeast Regional a ton from Boston when I went to school in Baltimore and it was definitely always busy! depending on the time of day and what direction you're going, Providence can be a busy station too with people commuting there to & from Boston! great video as always and I'm excited for the series!!!

just subscribed after the least popular route and i’m so happy i did now i get to look forward to one of one of the most exciting trips the world!! keep up the great work and super pumped for the content to come!!!

Mike! Fabulous! But sometime you MUST visit in New Jersey. Everyone makes fun of my home state, but they also don’t know it! It has mountains, the “Down the Shore” areas, lakes, etc. plus some of the most important places in our Revolutionary War times. It also goes back and forth with Connecticut as the wealthiest state in the Union. Come visit! I would love to show you around.

was waiting specifically for Philly!!!! a philadelphia station being mysteriously wet while covered is the most on-brand Philadelphia thing I've ever heard!

I grew up along the Northeast Corridor. Dad commuted by train every day from New Jersey to Penn Station. Riding the Northeast Corridor trains is definitely a way to see a lot of states quickly, but it also has a very different feel than the longer-haul parts of the network. More people riding for business/school rather than for adventure. The NE Corridor tracks are the best. Smooth, and fairly straight for the purposes of running the Acela (which I must admit I could never justify paying extra for, because it's just not THAT much faster than the regular service). And as you point out, no need to play second fiddle to freight trains as in most of the US. Glad to hear you got to do coast-to-coast on VIA Rail after this. In 1995, I took the Cardinal then the Empire Builder across the top of the US in late summer, and then a couple weeks later, took an early Talgo Train (still in testing?) from Seattle to Vancouver and then traveled back east on VIA Rail. Great stuff. I remember how enthusiastic one of the station staff in Richmond, Virginia, was when I told him I was going by train to Seattle, then up to Vancouver, and then across Canada to get home. Alfred asked, "Oooh! Are you going to take the Talgo train? I'm jealous! I want to ride the Talgo." How did you take a Cascades service and not take a Talgo train? :-( Are they not in service any longer? (If you haven't taken a Talgo train, please try to do so before they all disappear. They feel different, because the axis of rotation of the cars on curves IS NOT at ground level... it's above that. It's cool. Very Pacific Northwest in terms of being a quirky thing that as far as I know, the rest of the country doesn't have.

You easily have the best production quality I've seen on a train video yet, well done ✨

The best part of your across Canada series was that you got out and experienced each Province. I hope you are doing that on your across America series.