# YHZ > BOS (Acela 1st Class) NYP > TRE



## NS VIA FAN (Aug 13, 2010)

I travel between Halifax NS and Trenton NJ two or three times a year and the usual route is Continental non-stop to Newark then on to Trenton via NJ Transit.....but its been awhile since I experienced Acela First Class so a change of route this time: Halifax-Boston-New York-Trenton.

I arrived at YHZ, the Halifax International Airport about two hours before my flight to allow plenty of time for the usual formalities. YHZ has US Pre-Clearance which means you go through US CBP (US Customs and Immigration) in Halifax before boarding your flight. Not busy at all and I could have easily cut this by an hour but why take the chance. I was on an Air Canada Jazz Bombardier CRJ100 for the 1 1\2 hour flight. Departure was at 8:25am Atlantic.....arrival in BOS at 8:55am Eastern - on-time. The nice thing about pre-clearance is you arrive in the US at a domestic gate and just walk off the plane.....no further customs formalities. I was out of the airport in two minutes.

Easiest way to South Station is the Silver Line bus but I had nearly two hours before my train so over to the Airport Station and downtown on the subway. A couple of changes, a quick stop at North Station to see what was going on there then on to South Station. I picked up my ticket and waited in Club Acela…..very nice, larger than the other Acela Lounges Ive been in and the Attendant very helpful. This trip seams to be starting-off great. While waiting I had a complementary coffee and muffin and no problem connecting to the Wi-Fi. I remember my first trips to South Station in the 70s and a pretty run-down place but its certainly an impressive building today.

Acela #2163 boarded a few minutes before our 11:15am departure time. As everyone is walking to the train I get my mini HD video camera out for a few shots....."Hay! No Pictures" security yells. Im a foreigner and dont want this to go any further so quickly put the camera away. It makes me rather uncomfortable so I dont try for any more pictures the rest of the trip. I always like to take a least one picture of every train Im on for my travelogues and have never encountered this before.....thought that if you were a ticketed passenger on the public portion of the platform you were permitted to take a picture of the train you were about to board??

On board now I have a single seat next to a huge window (sure beats Amfleet!) and it puts me in a much better mood! And the attendant.....one of the best Ive ever encountered on Amtrak. A snack-mix and beverage service is offered and I start with a pop (guess thats called soda down here) and Im asked if I would like something a little stronger to go with it.....but I pass for now as I know I will have more than my fair-share later this weekend! After quick stops at BBY & RTE were into PVD in no time at all.

Out of Providence, the First Class car had pretty well filled up. Everything on the lunch menu looked good but I decided on the Asian Chicken which was excellent along with wine and followed by lemon cake for desert.

When I finished lunch it was nice to just sit back, relax, enjoy a beer and surf the net a bit (The connection was spotty but I was able to check e-mails).....this First Class travel is great.

After the impressive bursts of speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it seamed as if we were almost crawling through several stretches in Connecticut. (Too bad Acela cant really show it potential between Boston and New York and then who would ever fly!) In the same length of time: 3 1\2 hours, VIA #57 a nearly all stops local in the corridor, using 55 year old rebuilt Budd equipment (some of it even xAmtrak Heritage cars) will cover the same distance and VIA fastest train would have gone 50 miles further down the track.

Riding the train at home, once outside the city, its mostly a rural landscape so Ive always enjoyed the urban views in the NEC and especially south of New Haven.....the constant meets and overtaking of trains on the adjacent tracks. And then the views of Manhattan as we wind up and over Hells Gate Bridge….down past Sunneyside and into the tunnel arriving NYP about 10 minutes late.

Other than the photo incident.....an almost perfect trip and one of the best Ive had on Amtrak in a long time. On most of my previous trips the equipment and timekeeping have been fine but its been a crew member that has ruined an otherwise good trip. But this time.....great Attendants and excellent service. Amtrak.....Ill give you 9 out of 10 this time!

Its the beginning of the afternoon rush and getting busy. I was meeting up with a friend before continuing onto Trenton so I spent some time looking around.....and there, in Penn Station, a Canadian icon.....a Tim Hortons! and I get a Double-Double (its been 10 hours since my last fix on the way to YHZ this morning)

Then I walked over to GCT and took the subway back. The view of the concourse from the balcony is always impressive at rush hour.....hopefully Penn Station will have a restored concourse level someday too.

Time now to continue to Trenton on NJ Transit and this train included the new Multi-Level cars built by Bombardier (thats Bom-bar-dee-a.....not Bom-bar-deer) Come to think of it.....everything Ive been on today (except the subways) was built by Bombardier.....the Regional Jet, Acela and now the NJ Transit Multi-levels. This was a packed local but we did manage to get a couple of seats together. Again, I enjoyed the ride through the urban landscape, especially at rush-hour and the numerous meets…..Secaucus…..PATH etc.

After the weekend in Trenton, it was time to head home and my usual route would have been TRE > EWR > YHZ on Continental Airlines. But US Airways now has a new non-stop service between Philadelphia and Halifax which gave me a chance to sample some SEPTA trains. So it was back to TRE at 10:45am for SEPTA #734 to 30th Street.....I had a few minutes there to soak up the atmosphere of another big restored station then onto PHL arriving at the Airport Station at 12:20pm. Quick check-in and time for a snack before departure at 1:35pm. I was on a US Airways CRJ 200 (another Bombardier product) for the 1 hr. 50 min. PHL >YHZ flight. It was a clear day and with a window seat on the left, a great view.....we basically followed above the NEC to BOS then Downeaster route to Portland before heading out over the Gulf of Maine and a direct shot into Halifax. Arrival was at 4:25pm (3:25 Eastern)

TRE > PHL to my car at YHZ: 4 hr. 55 minutes.....then an hour home.

A great trip and Im already planning to return to Trenton in November. United has a nonstop YHZ > WAS (Dullas) E-170 so I might do the corridor south to north and in Acela First Class again too.


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## Ryan (Aug 13, 2010)

Great report!

As a heads up, Washington Dulles (IAD) is really about 40 minutes outside of "Washington", and at present a bus is the only way to get anywhere once you arrive! A flight into BWI would put you right on the corridor, and DCA isn't too hard to transfer from.


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## NS VIA FAN (Aug 13, 2010)

Ryan said:


> Great report!
> 
> As a heads up, Washington Dulles (IAD) is really about 40 minutes outside of "Washington", and at present a bus is the only way to get anywhere once you arrive! A flight into BWI would put you right on the corridor, and DCA isn't too hard to transfer from.


Thanks.....it’s the Customs Pre-Clear in YHZ then the non-stop flight that makes IAD really convenient for me.


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## rrdude (Aug 13, 2010)

NS VIA FAN said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> > Great report!
> ...


I did the BWI-YHZ thing on Continental in April, no pre-clearance, but then again customs took all of 30 seconds at YHZ.........

Plus, at BWI, there is a 4 minute shuttle bus to the BWI-Rail station.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2010)

Very nice trip, some people have all the luck! Sounds like you ran into one of those SS guys in training when it came to taking pictures,as you know not everyone here is like that,

just a few wanna-be real cops or stormtroopers!

The BWI tip is a good one, Dulles is almost to CHI and the trip to town is a hassle, even National(it's official name is RRNational but oldtimers still call it National)is easier than Dulles since the subway is just a short ride across the River to get almost anywhere in the area!


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## guest (Aug 18, 2010)

rrdude said:


> NS VIA FAN said:
> 
> 
> > Ryan said:
> ...


Do you know how often the shuttle runs from BWI to the MARC/Amtrak station? I'm flying into BWI from Chicago next week and then need to get to Baltimore Penn Station. I've been told to take the Light Rail from the BWI terminal but it seems a lot slower than taking a MARC or NEC train.

What do you think?


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## Ryan (Aug 19, 2010)

Every 10 or 15 minutes it seems.

I think that it would be a matter of timing. If you make it to the train station and there's a train coming right away, it'll be faster. If you get there and it's a 40 minute wait (or more!) for a train, you'd be at BAL on the light rail before you ever even got on a train.


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## Devil's Advocate (Aug 19, 2010)

NS VIA FAN said:


> Acela #2163 boarded a few minutes before our 11:15am departure time. As everyone is walking to the train I get my mini HD video camera out for a few shots....."Hay! No Pictures" security yells. I’m a foreigner and don’t want this to go any further so quickly put the camera away. It makes me rather uncomfortable so I don’t try for any more pictures the rest of the trip. I always like to take a least one picture of every train I’m on for my travelogues and have never encountered this before.....thought that if you were a ticketed passenger on the public portion of the platform you were permitted to take a picture of the train you were about to board??


When I was a kid you could photograph any train you wanted and the employees couldn't be happier to see you showing some genuine interest. This applied to passenger trains and freight trains alike. Now you can be threatened with arrest, fines, and incarceration for daring to snap even the most innocent photo or video. One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn in life is that nothing which makes you proud of your country today is immune from being undone or perverted into something that brings shame to your nation tomorrow. In any case it sounds like the rest of your trip went extremely well so that's something to be thankful for.



NS VIA FAN said:


> After the impressive bursts of speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it seamed as if we were almost crawling through several stretches in Connecticut. (Too bad Acela can’t really show it potential between Boston and New York and then who would ever fly!) In the same length of time: 3 1\2 hours, VIA #57 a nearly all stops local in the corridor, using 55 year old rebuilt Budd equipment (some of it even xAmtrak Heritage cars) will cover the same distance and VIA fastest train would have gone 50 miles further down the track.


Somebody more knowledgeable than I will probably correct me soon but I'm guessing that there are simply too many competing interests over these tracks or else Amtrak probably could have already upgraded these lines at some point and gotten the speeds up. I mean, even most detractors of Amtrak don't seem to have anything against the NEC.

I appreciate your post and it's always nice to get some input from foreigners to see how they perceive our services. I even learned how to pronounce _Bom-bar-dee-a_.


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## AlanB (Aug 19, 2010)

daxomni said:


> NS VIA FAN said:
> 
> 
> > After the impressive bursts of speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it seamed as if we were almost crawling through several stretches in Connecticut. (Too bad Acela can’t really show it potential between Boston and New York and then who would ever fly!) In the same length of time: 3 1\2 hours, VIA #57 a nearly all stops local in the corridor, using 55 year old rebuilt Budd equipment (some of it even xAmtrak Heritage cars) will cover the same distance and VIA fastest train would have gone 50 miles further down the track.
> ...


The biggest impediment to faster times is money and land. There is some freight traffic in that area, but not only is it not enough to cause any problems, they also have no say in things anyhow.

The problem with the shore line is simply that it follows the coastline and the coastline isn't a straight line. While Acela can go around a curve faster than a conventional equipped Regional train, thanks to its tilting mechanism, it still must slow down for curves too. It just doesn't have to slow down as much as conventional equipment.

So given no objections from the locals and armed with billions to spend, Amtrak could indeed speed up that line by removing most of those curves. Of course you know as well as I that such a nirvana does not exist, so instead Acela continues to hint at just how good and fast service could actually be if this country finally starts to follow the lead of much of the rest of the free world and actually invest in rail infrastructure at a serious level that approaches what we put into the Interstate Highways many years ago.


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