The Amtrak to Boston

Today we caught an Amtrak train from New York to Boston. After starting the day with the usual cream cheese bagel (I think we managed to stay around the corner from the best bagelry in New York City, judging by the number of people who went there and the number of award they’ve won) we jumped onto the “1 train” at 110th street station, transfered onto the “3 train” (which is an express) at 96th street and made our way down to the 34st Street Penn Station subway station. Judging by the number of people who did the same transfer at 96th street station, it seems pretty popular to switch to the express once it is available.

After wandering somewhat aimlessly through the depths of Pennsylvania Station for a while we eventually found the Amtrak area. Penn Station is actually a pretty depressing place, especially considering the station that used to be located there was an absolute architectural masterpiece:

Instead we get a rabbit-warren of tunnels underneath Madison Square Garden indoor stadium. While it’s certainly great that Manhattan can have an indoor sports arena in the heart of the city, it’s pretty gutting to compare the old station with what’s there now. You just need to pop over to Grand Central Terminal to see how stunning Penn Station probably used to be.

Anyway, after waiting a while we boarded the train and started on our way. Even though the train was just the Northeast Regional rather than the super-fast “Acela Express”, the train certainly seemed to go pretty quick in my opinion. Perhaps I am just too used to the incredibly slow trains of New Zealand? Heading out of New York was actually pretty awesome as for much of the time the tracks were on an elevated viaduct structure (through Queens I think) which meant great views of the surrounding area including a superb view of the New York City skyline.

The trip took about four hours, and we did have a number of stops, but overall it was really enjoyable and scenic. For much of its way it seems as though the train was right next to the coast, which gave me the opportunity to enjoy the scenery and admire the New England architecture. When we did pull into Boston South Station I almost felt a bit sad the trip was over.

Overall, I would very strongly recommend catching Amtrak between New York and Boston. It’s just a million times easier to get to Penn Station than to any of New York’s airports, while at the Boston end it was also pretty easy to find our way from the station to our accommodation, which did involve the rather weird experience of travelling the “Silver Line” (it’s actually just a bus).

Tomorrow we get to catch a real train to check out Harvard University. In the meanwhile I will try to avoid humming the soundtrack to Boston Legal and not drool too much over the absolutely fantastic Boston architecture.

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