what are the advantages and desadvantages of travelling by train?

you get way more room in a train. its awesome. no airport security, you can bring onboard pretty much anything you want. the sleeper cars are sweet. the only down side is it takes longer to get where you're going.

You can sit facing the opposite direction from which you are going. Like going back in time.
.

Well, it would depend on your location, and the other transportation opportunities for your journey.

Here in the USA, the only inter-state rail service is Amtrak, and the disadvantages are generally the lack of routes, the cost, the slow speed, and the piss-poor schedule keeping.

I frequently make use of two regional / commuter train systems: CalTrain and ACE (Altamont Communter Express) which do go where I need, do it quicker than driving, are ON TIME, and are inexpensive. My monthly commuter ticket costs me $152 (average of $6/day) , and my 260 mile round trip on ACE is $20.

For the MOST part, the two regional trains I take aren't crowded, I can snack and drink, I can nap, chat with other passengers, do my work, watch a DVD... and NOT stress over the driving or filling my tank.

I did alot of train TRAVEL in Europe in the 70's-80s, and still marvel at how well organized, planned, and operated their systems are. Germany and Switzerland in particular.

I have to laugh at Athiest Dean's answer... I ride backwards most of the time myself.

It's better for the planet than traveling by car or plane, it's fast, it's efficient, it has much better routes, it's enjoyable...

The only disadvantage is that a train may only travel where there is a railway. And since that bastard Dr. Beeching closed most of them down, there are a lot less here in Britain.

Advantages - just a great way to see the country. You can relax and do whatever you want.

Disadvantages - it is slower than flying and driving and your train may be late, but that isn't Amtrak's fault. They have to stop for freight trains as the freight trains own the tracks. But Amtrak is good about making up time.

And you can't bring just about anything with you on the train (they do follow TSA guidelines too and many stations have x-ray machines).