Amtrak to Montreal?

[sybaritic]

Have any of you who travel to Montreal from the Northeastern US tried Amtrak? It's appealing to be able to work during the trip and be delivered downtown without having to pay for parking. Don't really need a car during the stay...But is the service reliable?

 

[Montreal Moose]

Do they have it in place? Is it buses that bring you to Montreal? I heard that there was a multi-million dollar study to determine whether to connect Boston to Montreal via Amtrak. Not sure if they will actually do it since Amtrak is a money pit. It has been stated that it would be cheaper for tax payers to just buy every Amtrak passenger plane tickets to their destination.

MM

 

[Waynegrow2]

Although long (9hrs?), the NYC/Mont. route is good. Nice booths w/ large tables to work, and they're centrally located. Be sure to have your paperwork in order for both sides. Immigration boards the train and takes their sweet time w/ every passenger.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Depending on where you live, driving is still the cheapest and fastest option, even with escalating gasoline prices. In my case, much of my business can be conducted over the cellphone on the drive to Montreal, which in my case is 6 hours. There are 2 caveats to this: (1) using a cellphone while driving becomes illegal in Connecticut effective October 1, 2005; (2) Generally you lose reception through the Vermont mountains, so in my case I get all my calls done before I leave Massachussetts.

I have taken Amtrak to Boston and Rhode Island. I find it kind of expensive so I have only used it for exclusive business related travel.

I am familiar with the station near the Hilton Bonaventure. It's nice that Amtrak takes you to that station. And Curious is right, once in Montreal downtown you really don't need a car.

 

[sybaritic]

Thanks for the thoughts guys

For those of us on the NYC-Montreal run the cost seems hardly more than gas, and the savings on parking cover a couple of taxis if needed. Still, the down side is having to come and go on a fixed schedule--in this case earlier than I want--so I'll stick to driving this trip.