I take the train to work every day; roughly an hour’s ride. I do like to drive into work once every week or so, just to keep my routine fresh. But mostly I’m a train commuter on Metro North Railroad’s New Haven line.
The only things I don’t like about taking the train are:
- It makes my day longer, what with the extra time required to get to and from the train station on both ends of the trip, and making sure I’m there for the correct train so I get into work at the prescribed time. I have to get up earlier in the morning and I get home later in the evening. THAT I don’t particularly like.
- It can get crowded, especially when Metro-North plays fast and loose with the number of cars on the train each day, and the price of gas, which is increasing train ridership (generally a good thing but still).
Ah, but today there was a surprise! One of the cars on the train this morning was a BAR CAR! Now don’t get excited, the “bar” portion of the car was not in operation. But for some reason I still can’t figure out, most commuters don’t like sitting on the bar car. The bar car does not have the rows of two- and three-passenger seats of the other cars, in which you often feel yourself pressed in like a sardine. No, the bar car simply has limited bench-type seating along the sides of the car, so there’s no seat in front or in back of you, just the strategically-placed cup holders (good for coffee!). So I’m enjoying some rare personal space on my morning commute.
Now if only they had that bar working.