To Dallas by Train
I have always had a fascination with train travel (I guess from old movies showing glamorous stars in sleeper cars) but unfortunately every time I’ve looked into it I found it cost prohibitive. Not so this time! Although we live in Austin, we have booked our airline tickets to Europe departing from Dallas. This is a 4 hour drive north but the financial savings was enough to make it worth it for a family of 4.
However, with the recent rise in gas prices and the realization that I was going to cause my husband about 9 hours on the road to take us and return, I decided to revisit the Amtrak web site. Low and behold, the four of us can travel by train from Austin to Fort Worth for a total of $69.00 US! That is not 69 dollars each – that is 69 dollars total. We would probably spend more than this in gas. In addition, now the kids and I will be able to move around, eat, play cards, etc. during the trip instead of being confined to car seats. To make matters even better, Dallas and Fort Worth now have a commuter train system that will take us directly to the airport from the train station for a very low price. What a great surprise – imagine – a city in the southwest that has actually realized the benefits of a commuter train. Amazing!!!
