AFS1970
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2016
- Messages
- 177
I recently took two short NEC trips, a couple of weeks apart, both were pleasant and kind of renewed my opinion of train travel, not that it needed it.
Trip #1 was Stamford, CT to Portland, ME for a work conference.
My original plan was to take the train all the way, but the Downeaster schedule did not work out for me. Amtrak however offered connections with Concord Coach that went direct from Boston to Portland. Being that I was traveling alone and doing two segments I didn't look for upgrades on the way up. I got on the train in Stamford on a Sunday and it was unusually full. I would estimate at least 60% capacity. There were announcements being made about the lack of seats and that anyone getting on would have to sit next to someone. No big deal when traveling alone, but it made me appreciate reserved / assigned seating if I had been traveling with someone. As I was getting ready to sit down, the conductor came to check tickets. He told me the first car was nearly empty and there was no need to sit with anyone. I thanked him and went to that car. I ended up sitting alone for the entire trip. Nice customer service from the conductor, but a weird disconnect between the one making the announcement and the one taking the tickets.
After an uneventful trip to Boston, I had a short layover and set about trying to find the bus station. I had read that it was "right upstairs" but had never noticed a second level about South Station before. The area between the platforms and the station are under construction, so there is a somewhat bothersome path to get into the station. I did not see any signs directing me to the bus, but I was looking to grab a drink and a snack for the trip anyway. I finally asked at an MBTA information booth where the bus connections were. I got good directions, but it turns out "right upstairs" was a bit of an exaggeration. The directions were back on to the platforms, go to Track 1, to the end of the platform and through the sliding doors. This leads to a lobby, with some fairly long ramps or short stairs but with luggage the ramps were the better choice. Then up an escalator to the second level, then a hallway and another escalator to the third level where the busses actually depart from. As I was on the escalator, a security officer pointed out the elevator, but I was already on my way up.
I will say that the bus station is very modern and clean. I didn't encounter a lot of staff other than security, and there is not much in the way of concessions. It serves its purpose, and I described it to my wife as it must be what Port Authority was like when it was brand new. The gate area was stark but easy to navigate, and I got on the line for my bus. This is where I observed the only problem, it really wasn't my problem but did delay me a little bit. The first person in line was a woman in a wheelchair. the driver came from the bus parking area to collect tickets, when he walked inside, he looked at her and then told us all to hang on and went back to the bus. There was either an equipment problem or he wasn't all that familiar with the wheelchair lift as he had to reposition the bus, and it took him a few tries to get the lift to the ground. He was finally ready, came back and opened the door and told the woman she was clear to come to the bus. She then told him she was blind and needed help to get through the door and ono the bus. He didn't seem quite happy about that, but he got her on the lift and after a couple of tries he got her to the right elevation and onto the bus. The rest of the trip went well, there were only about a dozen or so of us on the bus.
One of the last seminars at the conference was put on by the FRA about grade crossing incidents. It was interesting but didn't contain much new information for me. (More on that later)
The trip back was on Wednesday, So I expected more crowds. The Portland bus station is relatively small but clean and fairly modern. It is also the train station, but this is accomplished by a covered walkway that goes down to the nearby track. I did not see any Amtrak staff there, but as I was once again on Concord Coach, I wasn't really looking. They made an announcement to line up at a gate, so I followed the crowd and stood online. I had asked at the counter if I needed to convert my Amtrak QR code into a paper ticket and they said no. A few minutes later another announcement said that passengers for Logan Airport should be on the right side of the rope and passengers for South Station should be on the left side. The few of us for South Station moved. I noticed almost everyone had luggage tags from the bus company with different letters on them. I managed to find out that these were for the airport terminals. I saw a sign on the counter with a different type of tag that said it was for South Station, so I crossed the rope and grabbed one.
They announced that all Logan passengers should go through the gate and get on the bus in space 3. I was mildly disappointed that they got first pick of seats but there were more of them. Then they announced that the South Station passengers should go through the gate and go to the bus in space 4. Despite all signage and announcements leading me to believe there was only one bus, we were on two different busses. This one there were less than 10 of us. The bus was clean and comfortable. My only complaint would be a minor one that on this trip in that the plate cover on the electrical outlet was broken, which could present a hazard although the chances of a shock are pretty low. We did get stuck in traffic a bit which shaved some time off my layover.
This time I looked into an upgrade, only because I had a coupon. I tried on the app but it didn't even give me an option to use one. I figured it might be because I got a discounted fare. I stopped in at the ticket counter and the clerk was very helpful but when he could not get the coupon to work and said an upgrade was going to be over $200, which was more than the ticket itself cost. Since I still had about 45 minutes and there is not a lot of seating options, I grabbed some Chinese food and went to the Metropolitan Lounge to sit and eat. I went down to the train and again was able to sit alone for the whole trip.
The only reason that I took the bus combo coming home was that there were events at my conference going on passed the time the Downeaster was leaving. I am glad I took this option, because as I was getting in my seat there was a couple that were being helped by a red cap that were saying they were happy to be on a train that was moving. They had been on the train I decided against, and it hit someone coming through New Hampshire. So, my seminar on train strikes was an odd coincidence to narrowly missing a delay because of one.
All in all, this was a pleasant trip and mostly uneventful.
Trip #1 was Stamford, CT to Portland, ME for a work conference.
My original plan was to take the train all the way, but the Downeaster schedule did not work out for me. Amtrak however offered connections with Concord Coach that went direct from Boston to Portland. Being that I was traveling alone and doing two segments I didn't look for upgrades on the way up. I got on the train in Stamford on a Sunday and it was unusually full. I would estimate at least 60% capacity. There were announcements being made about the lack of seats and that anyone getting on would have to sit next to someone. No big deal when traveling alone, but it made me appreciate reserved / assigned seating if I had been traveling with someone. As I was getting ready to sit down, the conductor came to check tickets. He told me the first car was nearly empty and there was no need to sit with anyone. I thanked him and went to that car. I ended up sitting alone for the entire trip. Nice customer service from the conductor, but a weird disconnect between the one making the announcement and the one taking the tickets.
After an uneventful trip to Boston, I had a short layover and set about trying to find the bus station. I had read that it was "right upstairs" but had never noticed a second level about South Station before. The area between the platforms and the station are under construction, so there is a somewhat bothersome path to get into the station. I did not see any signs directing me to the bus, but I was looking to grab a drink and a snack for the trip anyway. I finally asked at an MBTA information booth where the bus connections were. I got good directions, but it turns out "right upstairs" was a bit of an exaggeration. The directions were back on to the platforms, go to Track 1, to the end of the platform and through the sliding doors. This leads to a lobby, with some fairly long ramps or short stairs but with luggage the ramps were the better choice. Then up an escalator to the second level, then a hallway and another escalator to the third level where the busses actually depart from. As I was on the escalator, a security officer pointed out the elevator, but I was already on my way up.
I will say that the bus station is very modern and clean. I didn't encounter a lot of staff other than security, and there is not much in the way of concessions. It serves its purpose, and I described it to my wife as it must be what Port Authority was like when it was brand new. The gate area was stark but easy to navigate, and I got on the line for my bus. This is where I observed the only problem, it really wasn't my problem but did delay me a little bit. The first person in line was a woman in a wheelchair. the driver came from the bus parking area to collect tickets, when he walked inside, he looked at her and then told us all to hang on and went back to the bus. There was either an equipment problem or he wasn't all that familiar with the wheelchair lift as he had to reposition the bus, and it took him a few tries to get the lift to the ground. He was finally ready, came back and opened the door and told the woman she was clear to come to the bus. She then told him she was blind and needed help to get through the door and ono the bus. He didn't seem quite happy about that, but he got her on the lift and after a couple of tries he got her to the right elevation and onto the bus. The rest of the trip went well, there were only about a dozen or so of us on the bus.
One of the last seminars at the conference was put on by the FRA about grade crossing incidents. It was interesting but didn't contain much new information for me. (More on that later)
The trip back was on Wednesday, So I expected more crowds. The Portland bus station is relatively small but clean and fairly modern. It is also the train station, but this is accomplished by a covered walkway that goes down to the nearby track. I did not see any Amtrak staff there, but as I was once again on Concord Coach, I wasn't really looking. They made an announcement to line up at a gate, so I followed the crowd and stood online. I had asked at the counter if I needed to convert my Amtrak QR code into a paper ticket and they said no. A few minutes later another announcement said that passengers for Logan Airport should be on the right side of the rope and passengers for South Station should be on the left side. The few of us for South Station moved. I noticed almost everyone had luggage tags from the bus company with different letters on them. I managed to find out that these were for the airport terminals. I saw a sign on the counter with a different type of tag that said it was for South Station, so I crossed the rope and grabbed one.
They announced that all Logan passengers should go through the gate and get on the bus in space 3. I was mildly disappointed that they got first pick of seats but there were more of them. Then they announced that the South Station passengers should go through the gate and go to the bus in space 4. Despite all signage and announcements leading me to believe there was only one bus, we were on two different busses. This one there were less than 10 of us. The bus was clean and comfortable. My only complaint would be a minor one that on this trip in that the plate cover on the electrical outlet was broken, which could present a hazard although the chances of a shock are pretty low. We did get stuck in traffic a bit which shaved some time off my layover.
This time I looked into an upgrade, only because I had a coupon. I tried on the app but it didn't even give me an option to use one. I figured it might be because I got a discounted fare. I stopped in at the ticket counter and the clerk was very helpful but when he could not get the coupon to work and said an upgrade was going to be over $200, which was more than the ticket itself cost. Since I still had about 45 minutes and there is not a lot of seating options, I grabbed some Chinese food and went to the Metropolitan Lounge to sit and eat. I went down to the train and again was able to sit alone for the whole trip.
The only reason that I took the bus combo coming home was that there were events at my conference going on passed the time the Downeaster was leaving. I am glad I took this option, because as I was getting in my seat there was a couple that were being helped by a red cap that were saying they were happy to be on a train that was moving. They had been on the train I decided against, and it hit someone coming through New Hampshire. So, my seminar on train strikes was an odd coincidence to narrowly missing a delay because of one.
All in all, this was a pleasant trip and mostly uneventful.
