NYC-Boston: Bus or train?

[liberalpragmatist]

I'm going to the northeast for a week - next week. I'm traveling from NYC to Boston on Sunday. What's the better option - Amtrak or bus? And if bus, what company should I take?

Leaning towards bus - though I love trains, Amtrak doesn't look any faster, save for Acela, which is $90 round trip and is just a 3 hour trip vs. 4. And even the slow service costs $60 round trip versus the buses, which are all $15-20 one way.

Is there something I haven't taken into consideration?

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I love trains, so I would vote trains.

But I loathe bus travel, so I am probably biased.

[GCP]

2. For God's sake, stay away from the Fung Wah company

They're run out of Chinatown and became a running joke here in the Boston area - their drivers are about 18 and have the habit of crashing into toll booths and highway barriers. One even forgot to put on the parking brake in NYC and the bus plowed into several parked cars. There's another story of a woman passenger becoming so scared of the speed the guy was driving that she called the State Police on her cell, but they couldn't find the bus because it had some banner covering the bus company name. Their local joke name is the Banzai Bus Company.

[SoxFan]

10. Don't forget the one that burst into flames on the interstate

Bad news...

[Genevieve]

3. The bus ride can be awful. I was once stuck on a bus from RI (which is closer to

NYC than Boston) for 7 hours.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. Fucking CT traffic

It once took me over five and a half hours to get from North Jersey to Stonington, CT. Stonington is RIGHT next to RI.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. Train, definitely train -

so many more options, cleaner restrooms, a dining car, perhaps, more comfortable seating, and - ah, yes - a different group of travelers.

Trains don't smell like buses, and there's no lurching at stops and starts.

Train, definitely the train.

I've met some really interesting people on trains all over the world ............................

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. I took that exact trip via Amtrak.

I actually preferred it to any other kind of travel.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. If you can afford it, train

Because CT traffic is a bitch.

[mwooldri]

8. If the money is tight then do consider the bus.

You're definitely spoiled for choice for bus companies. You got the Greyhound/Peter Pan choice, and they're rolling out the BoltBus brand which has wifi and electrical hookups on board. You got Megabus as another choice. Either the Greyhound/Peter Pan/Bolt Bus or Megabus choices would be sound since they're effectively multi-national bus operators anyway (Greyound->FirstGroup, Megabus->Stagecoach).

Between the Chinatowns there's two competing bus companies: Fung Wah and Lucky Star... an earlier poster seemed to warn off of them.

Sometimes you can get $1 one way specials if you book online far enough in advance.

However if the money is there, train, train, train. Got to support Amtrak!

Bus isn't THAT bad... but then I travelled the UK on National Express and Scottish CityLink ... and yes traffic in certain places can be baaad.

[SoxFan]

9. You end up the same place

In Boston, the intercity bus lines and Amtrak both terminate at South Station, which is also the terminus for commuter rail to the south shore, Providence, and Worcester, as well as a subway stop.

The train is a much nicer experience, but the bus lines are having a fare war at the moment, so you can find some insanely cheap deals.

[flvegan]

11. Only with a gun to my head would I choose the bus in that scenario.

[SilverFallsNY]

12. Take the train..

I got robbed on the bus last two times I tried it.

[WildEyedLiberal]

13. I took the Fung Wah and had a fine enough experience

It was a hell of a lot cheaper than Greyhound or the train, too. But I won't tell you to ignore the negative feedback, either. I had a fine experience but obviously lots of people don't. But if you're just looking to save money, I don't think there's really any good reason to argue against the Chinatown buses.