Amtrak and bus to Nashville - which route?

[Rasputin]

The best way to reach Nashville used to be on the Amtrak Floridian and I have done that but it is sadly no longer an option.

So if one were going from the Northeast to Nashville and wanted to go part way on Amtrak, which route would be preferred:

1. Lake Shore to Chicago, City of New Orleans to Memphis, bus to Nashville.

2. Crescent to Birmingham, bus to Nashville.

Until October 1 of this year, the Crescent would probably win because of superior food but now that advantage has been lost.

Thanks.

 

[Anthony V]

If you want a shorter bus ride, I'd say the Crescent to Birmingham and the new Thruway Bus to Nashville.

 

[Rasputin]

If you want a shorter bus ride, I'd say the Crescent to Birmingham and the new Thruway Bus to Nashville.

That sounds good but I don't see any Birmingham - Nashville Thruway bus on the Amtrak website. All I see is a bus connection from Toledo to Nashville which involves an 11 hour bus ride.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

About the only other option that will give you a shorter bus ride would be to ride the Cardinal to Indy and have a 10.5 hour layover to catch a bus that only takes 6 hours.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

You can take Mega Bus from Atlanta to Nashville. Greyhound runs multiple trips from Birmingham to Nashville. You could also take greyhound from Carbondale IL to Nashville.

As a side note... there is a great airport shuttle service called Groome Transportation that runs from Atlanta to Chattanooga to Nashville. You don't have to be flying to use it.. it runs every other hour all day long. Very convenient.

 

[Rasputin]

Thanks for the responses to this question. It doesn't look like it is very feasible to take a trip to Nashville involving Amtrak. Bus connections seem to be very poor and not guaranteed.

I had considered going to Birmingham on the Crescent and taking a bus to Nashville but the Crescent's on-time performance has deteriorated and there seems to be a good chance of not making the 1 p.m. Greyhound bus to Nashville and having to wait for the next bus at 7:30 p.m.

Looks like flying is the best option.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

Yeah, that really sucks. A town such as Nashville, with it’s rich railroad history, not having actual train service (let alone reasonable thru-way bus service) is not right.

 

[hastybob]

The Birmingham to Nashville option is out now. Greyhound dropped the bus without notice. You can still return, though.
(Well, actually, you can purchase from Greyhound going to Nashville, but the 1pm bus is really too close to reliably make the connection and the next option is 730pm, 7 hour layover)

 

[Rasputin]

The Birmingham to Nashville option is out now. Greyhound dropped the bus without notice. You can still return, though.
(Well, actually, you can purchase from Greyhound going to Nashville, but the 1pm bus is really too close to reliably make the connection and the next option is 730pm, 7 hour layover)

The Memphis to Nashville connections seem to be a bit better but of course that involves a day in Chicago connecting from the lake Shore to the City of New Orleans and another day in Chicago on the return.

 

[adamj023]

Amtrak adds time if you use it over bus outside the Northeastern corridor to get to Nashville.

Fastest way from NYC for instance is Amtrak Northeastern corridor to Lynchburg, Virginia then Greyhound bus for instance to Nashville from there. Not surprised they removed Amtrak thruway routes to Nashville as they likely had poor demand. There are better ways to get there.