I commute to work by train, even though driving would be faster. The one time in the past 17 years that I drove into the office, I found the experience of driving into to downtown Washington (not to mention the 35 miles or so on I-95 from Baltimore) to be extremely stressful, even though there was one one backup and my door to door time was a half hour faster than train plus Metro. Plus, parking in downtown Washington is very expensive.
For intercity travel, I find the stress experience by modes to be as follows: <least stressful> train > bus > driving > flying <most stressful>.
In general, if I have the time and can get reasonably close to where I'm going, I'd prefer the train. I'd definitely take the Acela to Boston (or anywhere in between) over flying, even though flying is faster, even counting the time getting to the airport, security lines, etc. On the other hand, I regularly take business trips to the Akron, OH area, and the train service (to Cleveland) doesn't exactly have good calling times. It's a 6-7 drive, and it's much more economical to rent a car in Baltimore or Washington and drive out rather than fly to Cleveland or Akron and rent a car for more or less the same time period. I will take overnight train trips over flying from Baltimore to Chicago or Florida. In fact, I have a conference in Hilton Head next month, I take the Silver Meteor down the night before and arrive in Savannah with plenty of time to rent a car and get to Hilton Head. The return trip leaves at about 7:30 PM, or I can spend the night in Savannah and ride the Palmetto home. Of course, Any rides longer than that, and I will usually fly, unless the train trip is planned as part of the vacation.
My pros and cons are as follows:
Train:
Pros: More personal space than other modes
I find the rocking motion and muffled noises relaxing
Scenery
Can meet friendly interesting people to talk the miles away
Can eat delicious food while watching the scenery and enjoying comapny
Cons: Service seems less reliable (delays, cancellations, etc.)
Older equipment is sometimes not in the best mechanical condition
Can meet some real jackassess, and you're stuck with them for hours
Sometimes served disgusting food by surly waitstaff
Driving:
Pros: lot's of personal space, bu you have to stay seated when the car is moving
You can go anywhere you want at your own schedule
Can find all kinds of interesting roadside eateries serving delicious food
Cons: I have to stop at least once an hour for rest breaks
Driving can be stressful
All of the easily findable roadside eateries are disgusting chains serving prepackaged food-like substances
Jurisdictions with law enforcement who like to pay "special attention" to people from out of town
Flying:
Pros: It's fast, there's no denying it
I like looking a scenery from the air
Cons: Lack of personal space - small seats, no legroom, no room in overhead bins, takes forever to empty the plane after arrival.
I need to sit in an aisle seat because I know I'll need the use the restroom at least twice during the flight. So much for being able to look out the window at the scenery.
Turbulence freaks me out. I know the planes are designed for it, and I always keep my seat belt fastened, but my lizard brain keeps screaming silently to me that this is not natural. (To be honest, I get the same freak-out feeling if the Acela hits a bump at 130 mph or takes a curve a little too fast.)
TSA and the general police-state vibe one gets at the typical airport. (Though, to be honest, the armed police in tactical gear and dogs, etc. at Washington Union Station (and even Baltimore) provide a similar vibe. Except that they don't usually run you though the security lines before taking the train.)
Food...you mean they serve food on an airplane?
I have some vague memories that such things were done during the last century, but haven't experienced such a thing recently.
On my last flight from OAK to BWI (5 hours) I had to make do with a bag of salmon jerky and cheese pieces from Whole Foods. They did sell me a small bottle of a wine-like substance that appeared to contain alcohol.
Now if someone would come up with a service where they come to your house, put you in suspended animation, crate you up, ship you air freight and then revive you at your hotel, I might be interested.