In hopes of efficiently using my time while traveling between Boston and New York, I recently hopped aboard the Acela Express. Offering three and a half hour trips between the two cities with minimal stops and free Wi-Fi, it sounded like the perfect way to carve out time to catch up on personal correspondence and draft a few blog entries.
New York Skyline Sunset by thenails from flickr
The Cost of Convenience
Unfortunately for me, convenience came with a hefty price tag. Even with my AAA discount, my roundtrip tickets ran about $230. Normally, when I spend weekends in New York City, I drive down to the Fairfield, CT Metro North train station, which has free weekend parking and $20-ish tickets.
I ended up bitting the bullet because I didn’t want to take the bus and the Northeast Region train from Boston was only $30 less. The Northeast Regional train does not have Wi-Fi and takes 30 minutes longer to travel to New York City. I was also happy that Back Bay Station and Penn Station were within walking distance of my apartment and NYC hotel (70 Park. Ave), allowing me to avoid shelling out for cab fare.
An Early Morning Wake-Up Call Worth The Effort
On the way down, the experience could not have been easier. I took an 8:15 a.m. train into Penn Station, which arrived at 11:45 a.m. Sure, it was early, but you really only need to be at Back Bay Station 10-15 minutes in advance of your train time, depending on the time of day that you’re traveling. Picking up the Acela tickets at a ticket window at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday was incredibly fast, but could easily take longer during peak times, so plan accordingly.
While traveling to New York, the ride itself was exactly what I had hoped it would be. It was quiet and the Wi-Fi had a strong signal, despite the train being a bit jiggly at times. I especially enjoyed my window seat when traveling along the picturesque Connecticut coastline. The view of the New York City skyline is also wonderful.
A Bump in the Road
The way home was another story. I arrived in Penn Station fifteen minutes in advance of my departure only to discover that my train had been delayed 45 minutes. Ugh! According to the frequent Acela travelers around me, this was not a normal occurrence, so they didn’t even think to check the train status before arriving at Penn Station.
The delay was due to a mechanical issue and everyone was incredibly antsy as 45 minutes stretched to an hour and a half. While the staff was very friendly, they were not being given status updates by their superiors in an efficient manner, creating a worse experience for the delayed passengers. Once we were finally given the green light to board, I also found it annoying to battle to maintain my place in line among the throngs of antsy passengers while waiting to take the escalator down to the tracks.
Life Lessons Come When You Least Expect Them
Onboard, I ended up sitting next to the most delightful woman from Cambridge. Which was a good thing, as the free Wi-Fi was not working and speaking with her for three and a half hours lifted my spirits. We had an incredible amount in common, yet there was easily a 40 year age gap between us.
If it wasn’t for my chance travel companion, I may have left the Acela with mixed reviews. But, that’s the unexpected beauty of train travel on the Acela – you can easily sit for hours blogging and catching up on email correspondence, or if you’re really lucky, you’ll meet someone inspiring.
Minus the delay, it was definitely an efficient use of my time and I’d try it again. Mission accomplished! For more information about Acela and train schedules, please visit www.amtrak.com.