I DIDN'T GET TREATED LIKE A TERRORIST.

Joe Sharkey of the New York Times discovers First Class on what passes for the West Coast Champion these days.

Given the length of the trip, I reserved a sleeper compartment. The private sleeper had two comfortable seats that could fold down into a bunk bed and a second bunk that ratcheted toward the ceiling when not in use. It also had a toilet, sink, a work table and an electrical outlet.

The fare was $480.80, which included four meals in the adjacent dining car. By comparison, one-way nonstop airline fares on that route ranged from $248 to $301 this week.

“We’re seeing more business travelers, usually on trips of about 500 miles but sometimes even all the way to New York,” said Dennis M. Lyons, an Amtrak product development officer. I ran into him at Union Station in Tampa as I was boarding the Silver Star, which travels about 1,500 miles from Miami to New York, with brief stops at about 20 cities along the way.

The Silver Star, one of more than a dozen of Amtrak’s long-haul trains, carried about 393,000 passengers in 2010, up 6 percent from 2009, Amtrak says.

Before boarding, I was skeptical about this adventure, but I have to report that the trip was more civilized than air travel and worth it this one time. The dining car menus offer a good range of selections. Communal dining — that is, you’re seated at a small table with strangers — was a nice change from the general social alienation of air travel.

Note that 500 mile figure: ten hours driving time, with bathroom stops and hotels at the end of the journey, and the aggravation of traffic and the rolling roadblocks the long-distance truckers have become. Or one hour in the air, with another hour or two in security and waiting to board through one door, plus transportation to and from airports.  Choosing any rental car is scant compensation for being set down miles away from wherever you want to be.

Note also, that's the one train remaining from Tampa to anywhere, and it's running on the not-always-dependable CSX south of Washington, D.C.  Provide additional frequency, and give those long-distance trains free rein to 90 (or, with the newer equipment coming, 110) and you might have something.

I'm pleased to see additional Establishment reporters making the case for the long-distance passenger train.