When we chronicled Michael Kennedy's negative experience with Amtrak a couple weeks back, and how it drove him to give up on the train, several of you rushed to the defense of rail.

Kennedy, as you may recall, is the semi-retired Orange County surgeon who was counting on Amtrak to drop him in San Diego in time to catch the last jet headed for Tucson, Ariz., where he has a second home. But on one Friday night in October, Amtrak was an hour late and he almost missed his flight.

A recurring theme in e-mail comments was surprise that he jumped ship so quickly.

The thoughts expressed by Diane Scholfield of Oceanside were representative.

"I must be missing the logic of Michael Kennedy's decision to abandon his use of Amtrak because it was late once," Scholfield said. "Here he was using it time after time, the train is serving him well, it's late one time and he decides, 'That's it! I'm driving from now on.'"

She's got a point. Would we park our cars after one bad ride to work? I don't recall seeing a sharp drop-off in traffic the day after an accident shut down one of our freeways.

Scholfield went on to suggest that, while the train is far from perfect, we need to keep its performance in perspective.

"Is there any mode of transportation less reliable as far as keeping to a timetable than a car in Southern California?" she asked.

According to Vernae Graham, a spokeswoman for Amtrak in Oakland, the national passenger railroad's performance is actually improving, if only slightly. Its Pacific Surfliner trains, the ones that travel between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, were on schedule 76 percent of the time last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, up from 73 percent a year earlier.

Running on time three out of four days isn't exactly something to write home about. But on the other hand, can you count on a timely auto commute three-quarters of the time?

Commuting aside, retiree Bernice Reda of Temecula says Amtrak is a great way to travel across the country, if one exercises a little patience.

"Seeing our country is worth the time spent," Reda said. "We have traveled with writers, professors, ranchers, clergymen, students and even Diane Keaton. Cross country train travel is not for those in a hurry, but I hope that it will continue so that I may take all my grandchildren to see the red hills in New Mexico, the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts and the Atlantic sea coast."

Readers are encouraged to ask questions and submit ideas for commuter columns. Staff writer Dave Downey may be reached at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com. For the latest traffic conditions, go to www.nctimes.com/traffic.