There has not been a train on this route for nearly 40 years. Reinstating passenger rail service has been proposed, but has not been funded.
The bus has been serious, low cost competition to Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor. If successful, will the express bus stifle rail passenger expansion in smaller, short haul markets?
We can only hypothocize or guess since we have never had a really good head to head transportation study to determine what is good and what is bad and where. With no train service, bus is good. How many years down the road will we see congestion and pollution along the highway forcing a less pollution prone train and take x number of cars away from the pavement. Can we make educated guesses from where there has been competition? Is commuter congestion zones comperable? Enough so that we can project or theorize the answer here? Politics will play a major role in the matter, as will philosophical differences. If I were to project an answer it would be: bus will be good if measured only DeMoines to Chicago. If someone puts a train on the same route, the train may provide good competition. If the train route here is a route segment of the train, then the train may have a few points ahead. Ten years from now, it might be all in the train’s favor because of traffic congestion and environmental concerns. Or, science, technololgy, or political philosophies may be completely opposite the way things look today and I’m 180 degrees off. Professional technical and marketing studies have to be done for a real answer. Otherwise the answers you get will be just as much conjecture as my answer.
Web articles mention Mega Bus is having success in the 18-35 year old demographic; the gold zone of marketing. Iowa City and the University of Iowa is probably key to the route’s being implemented.
Wi-Fi and electrical outlets at every seat are stressed at Mega Bus web site, as well as Greyhound’s. Certainly not direct vehicle technology, but adding to the appeal of the service. Is the need for extreme speed becoming less of a factor for younger travelers used to electronic interaction?
Jammed in a winged aluminum can is quicker, but the bus companies are stressing leg room and other comfort factors in their pitch. Will the comfort factor of travel coupled with a lower price give a greater edge to surface be it rail, or bus?
I, being 6’-5" and nearly 300 lbs., would certainly consider any surface mode favorably, and would lean more towards rail from a safety aspect (I-80 tends to attract a LOT of 18-wheeled traffic).
Extending the soon to be established Chicago/Quad Cities/Iowa City Amtrak service to Des Moines is on the wish list of Iowa’s current governor’, and he has done a couple of train excursions to hype interest. Unfortunately, if the polls are to be believed, he is probably on his last term.