Bus versus Rail

My girlfriend and I are planning to visit the east coast in April next year. We%26#39;re starting in Boston and need advice about travelling from the major cities. Our trip is Boston-NY-Philadelphia-DC. We%26#39;ve compared Amtrak to buses and found bus prices are generally cheaper. But what is the standard like of the buses though, such as Greyhound? I%26#39;ve read in previous posts about Chinatown buses - can anyone recommend them? What about other bus operators? We are probably going to take the commuter train from NY to Philadelphia (where you change at Trenton). Is this a good idea? What are your thoughts on Amtrak?

Importantly what restrictions and conditions apply to train and bus transport. Ideally we would like to spend as little time as possible in queues but on the flip side we don%26#39;t want to miss our journey because seating is allocated on first in first serve basis. Of course we realise in this day and age some waiting is inevitably because of security checks.

Any advice would be gratefully received. We%26#39;re coming from Australia and have little clue about standards, travel times, neighbourhoods and reputations!

Cheers

Down under Drew

Bus versus Rail

1.) For Amtrak, there isn%26#39;t a queue up in a line per se. Everyone waits around for the announcement that the train is available for boarding, and you go down elevators/stairs to the train platform.

There are different classes; the cheapest is unreserved.

2.) The journey if you use NJ Transit to Trenton to switch to SEPTA takes longer but costs about half as much as Amtrak.

3.) For information about the ';Chinatown'; buses, Google on %26#39;Chincatown bus%26#39;. Some interesting reading. Greyhound is the main bus interstate bus company.

Bus versus Rail

I%26#39;ve taken the Chinatown buses from NYC to Boston and NYC to Philadelphia.

The bus stop in NYC Chinatown I found to be inconvenient--I live on the Upper West Side, and it took a while to get there. The trips back and forth were fine, but I do think I would have felt more comfortable with a national operator (Greyhound or Peter Pan). For example, when I was waiting for the bus to take me from Philadelphia to NYC, there was a large crowd milling around. I was able to get a seat on the bus, but others were left behind, fuming. They must have oversold the bus. The other downside about buses is traffic, which is unpredictable (you might have no problem, you might get stuck for an hour).

I don%26#39;t know about your budget, but perhaps since your trip isn%26#39;t until next year you could put away a little more money and take the train. I wouldn%26#39;t spring for the faster train (Acela) though--I find that with delays they often take as long as the regular trains. Please note, though, that with Amtrak, if you buy an unreserved ticket you are not guaranteed a seat. If you are traveling at a peak time (like around a holiday), you might have to stand until people get off.

Note that in the past couple of months two of the ';Chinatown'; buses caught fire and burned on highways between Boston and New York. I don%26#39;t believe anyone was injured in either of these incidents. Both the buses and the drivers for these companies evidently work exceptionally long hours, something I think I would want to know if I were selecting a carrier on which to travel.

I would recommend trains over buses, don%26#39;t have to deal with traffic and are much more comfortable. But they will be a bit pricier.

I%26#39;ve gone from NY to Philadelphia several times by NJ Transit switching to SEPTA in Trenton. It is much cheaper than Amtrak but does take longer. I would only use Amtrak on the longer distances.

Last I heard, Amtrak has done away with unreserved seats. So if you do decide to use the train, go to www.amtrak.com and make reservations. The SEPTA/NJ Transit route from NYC to Philadelphia, is cheaper but more time consuming. For travel in the Northeast corridor, I much prefer the train to the bus. Yes, it%26#39;s more costly but also more comfortable and as a previous poster pointed out, you don%26#39;t get stuck in traffic.