Long security lines at airports are driving people crazy as Congress and President Donald Trump try to work out a budget stalemate. Some travelers are seeking out alternative ways of getting where they need to go. And one option is the train. Railroads are among the country's oldest methods of long-distance transportation. A train trip is still longer, but what you don't find at the station are standstill lines, Transportation Security Administration agents or stand-in immigration officers. Sometimes modern conveniences such as jet travel aren't all that convenient.

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Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, walks to the chamber after meeting behind closed doors with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., talks to reporters about a funding bill to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown that began more than a month ago, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)