When I used to live in the Midwest I couldn’t imagine a place in the U.S. that people would actually ride trains to get around. Then I spent some time working in New York and came to understand how that without a car Amtrak is a real boon to getting between cities on the East coast and an important part of the transportation infrastructure. Indeed, riding a train between cities such as New York and Boston can be much preferable to flying due to the lack of security hassle and more pleasant and comfortable ride.
Amtrak is nearly always cheaper than flying, especially with airline flight costs going up these days, but during heavy travel periods Amtrak can get pricey too. Weekend travel and holiday time travel tend to be the most expensive on Amtrak, with one-way tickets between the popular Boston to New York or New York to Washington D.C. journey sometimes costing over $100.