One of the advantages of living on the east coast is that traveling by rail is a real option for some cities. Amtrak runs a very busy city-to-city service from Boston down to Washington, which is priced somewhat competitively with air travel. DC to NYC by rail and by air are both somewhere around $200, although there are tremendous fluctuations with air travel prices.
But, a comparison between the two is interesting.
Comfort is no comparison; rail is far superior to air in comfort. The seats are much more spacious, there is way more storage space, the seats are far more comfortable. You can get up and stretch or walk around any time you want, and if you need to use the rest room it is far larger and even accommodates wheel chairs if needed. The noise level for rail is lower, the ventilation is better, and you don't twist your neck trying to look through a little tiny airplane porthole.
As a business traveler, there also is no comparison - rail kills air. Comedians don't joke about airplane food anymore because there's no such thing. On the train you can walk to the dining car where there are a lot of options, hot or cold. You can sit at a table or have a big pull out tray for your work. There's a 110 volt outlet next to the seat to keep your batteries charged. Odds are pretty good that you'll have a solid cell phone connection the whole way. You can annoy your neighbors as you pretend you have very important calls to make, or keep your computer attached to the Internet as you roll along. Air is working on solving this; Internet access and cell phone access in the sky, power at your seat sometimes if you have the right cable. Maybe if there was enough room to open up your computer you could take advantage of this, but its pretty hard in a center coach seat to open up a laptop these days.
The time it takes to travel has been similar for me between rail and air in some cases on the east coast. While a plane is way faster than a train (about 450 MPH airspeed vs. 90 MPH ground speed), when you consider the time delays with airports and their security vs. walking onto a train minutes before it pulls out - plus the train leaves you downtown where air leaves you facing a 30 minute or more cab ride - not much difference. Of course, the further you go the less they are even. DC to Boston the plane wins; DC to Philadelphia or NYC the train wins.
One big difference is style. It's not not really a win for either side, but there is a huge difference in the perspective on the planet you get between the two modes. A plane ride at 30,000 feet is an amazing experience. You have a view of the planet, weather, and how humans exist which is so different than everyday life from the ground. A sight like Manhattan or the Grand Canyon from the air is almost surreal.
A train ride is sitting behind a picture window as you zip along water, land, people, forest, buildings, that you normally don't see. You'll pass over rivers with people rowing and riding bicycles, followed in a minute or two by building covered with graffiti long abandoned. It's hard to not hum "Ain't That America" in your head as you cross through all sections of life.
I've really enjoyed traveling by rail when it makes sense. It can also be very nice with colleagues since you can sit across from each other at a table while you travel. It's a shame the rail system doesn't connect more cities than it does for me, as most of my travel is by air.
