A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post asking our readers to give their thoughts on passenger rail (namely, Amtrak). I got some great responses, and as a result, decided to take a trip of my own to try it out. Thus, this past weekend my boyfriend and I took the train to visit my parents in Charlotte.

The way down to Charlotte was a bit frustrating. We rode the Carolinian (which travels from Charlotte to New York and back), and it was running 1.5 hours late! Once we boarded the train, we were surprised to find out there were no reserved seats...so we couldn't find two seats together because the train was so full (luckily, one lady offered to move so we could sit together). The train itself seemed a little worn down, but I imagine after trekking up to New York and back hundreds of time, weather and foot traffic is bound to take its toll. We loved the extra foot room (as opposed to in a plane), the snack car (hooray!), and the ability to get up and walk around a bit.

Since we got off to such a late start, it was almost dark outside by the time we left the station, so I couldn't see much of scenic North Carolina from the window. However, it was great being able to use time on the train to do whatever I wanted. We were supposed to arrive in Charlotte at 8:15pm, but because of the train delay and of the various stops along the way, we didn't arrive until 10:45pm. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed, but we managed to find my parents, load up, and drive back to their place. [As a side note, I was originally hoping that Charlotte's new Lynx would be connected to the Amtrak station so that we could get even closer to my parent's house without having them drive clear uptown, but the Lynx hasn't expanded that far yet —hopefully they will soon as it has been very popular.]

After a great weekend, we headed back to Raleigh on Sunday. In contrast, the trip home was way better than the trip out on Friday. We rode the Piedmont route, which just goes from Raleigh to Charlotte and back. The train was right on time, had very quick stops, and still had a snack car (hooray again!) Because we left early enough, we were able to look out the window at the small towns of North Carolina as we rode by. We arrived on-time back in Raleigh (Cary, actually), and marveled at how great everything was.

So, in response to my questions posed originally in the post a few weeks ago, here are my thoughts (which are very similar to those responses from the previous post):

• Are train schedules fairly reliable? Seems like some are more than others. You can check online before leaving for the station to see if the train has been delayed. The bottom line is that public transit still needs some improvement as far as efficiency is concerned, but the more folks that ride, the more money will be invested to improve things.

• Is the extra time worth it, compared to driving or flying? Well, considering driving often puts you in frustrating traffic, and flying is getting more and more time consuming with security and runway delays, I think the extra time of riding a train would often be worth it —especially since it's free time to work, read, knit, talk (you can use cell phones), meet new people, watch a movie on your laptop, etc.

• As far as getting motion-sick, which is least offensive: flying or riding the train? We took Dramamine on the way down, just in case. But we really didn't need it (we didn't take anything on the way back and were fine). There's not really a whole lot of jerking around, and no "belly flops" like in an airplane, so it worked out very well.

• Is there a high cost to park your car at the station? Is it safe there? We parked in the Cary lot; my car was safe and parking was free.

• Are the trains clean and comfortable? I would say they were "clean enough." The bathrooms weren't so great, but I'm sure it's very hard to keep tiny bathrooms on a train clean! The seats seemed just fine.

• How much room does each person have? More room than on an airplane! Plus, you can walk up to the snack car and sit at tables if you want. You have much more freedom to move around.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience, and definitely plan to do it again sometime. The price was certainly right, and I really enjoyed not having to stop for gas, or deal with traffic, or not get sleepy...all the things I worry about when driving. The Amtrak staff were very friendly and helpful. Plus, I felt good about taking a step to reduce my carbon footprint. Many other people must be thinking the same thing because there were definitely more people on the train than I would have guessed.

So try it for yourself —take the train and let us know what you think!