NYC=>Ann Arbor, Lake Shore Lmt. & bus--baggage question

[Billiken]

Hello,

Next week I'm booked on the LSL from New York Penn Station to Toledo, transferring to the Amtrak Thruway bus to Ann Arbor, MI.

I'll have a big suitcase, and I'd like to know if I could check it, either to Toledo or through to Ann Arbor. There is a 35 min. layover in Toledo between the train arrival time and the bus departure time.

I though this would be a good way of getting rid of the suitcase after checking out of my hostel in NYC, considering the limited (and expensive) storage options around Penn Station.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[amtrakmichigan]

You can check your bag to Toledo, but not to Ann Arbor because it doesn't offer checked baggage service. The Toledo station is pretty nice, but is very tiny compared to New York Penn. There will be ample time for you to claim your bags and make it on to the bus which is about a 100 foot walk from the baggage counter to where the bus loads. The bus has plenty of undercarriage baggage compartment space, and this is where all baggage is stored that you don't want to carry on. So in a way it's like checked baggage from TOL - ARB, but you don't officially check it. When you jump off in Ann Arbor the bus driver will open the baggage compartments and you claim your bags yourself.

 

[NYP2NFL01]

I copied the following from Amtrak's website:

Parcel Check - $4.00 Per Day (24 Hours)

Customers holding tickets for travel may store their items in Parcel Check service when available.

New York Penn Station: $5.50 per day (24 hours).

$5.50 per day isn't terribly expensive. However, if you are traveling the same day you check out of the Hostel, just go to Penn Station and check that huge piece of luggage in.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Guest]

I asked Amtrak about this, and the e-mail response was:

"Checked baggage is not allowed on your travel journey at all."

I'm worried that if the train were late, maybe the bus would be ready to leave right away, and not wait for baggage to appear from the train...

 

[amtrakmichigan]

Regardless of how late the train is, the Agents at TOL will hold the bus until everyone has a chance to claim there checked baggage. I just did the same trip in July as you are doing with a 4 hour late LSL. Checked baggage in TOL is usually available in about 5 to 10 min of arrival. If they start boarding the bus prior to releasing the checked baggage just approach the counter and explain your concern to the Agent.

 

[NYP]

The Amtrak reply is because checked baggage allows a lot more bags than carry-on. A downline train or bus without checked baggage service could mean that a passenger claims four bags and then tries to board the next leg with more carry-on bags than allowed. Hence the reply. But the description of Toledo is accurate.

 

[Billiken]

Thank you everyone for your answers. I'll give it a try, and if not possible, I'll just have to use the Penn Station luggage check.

 

[NYP2NFL01]

I rode the LSL from NYP to Detroit via Toledo in December of 1997. I checked a really big piece of luggage at Penn Station about 6 hrs prior to departure. I didn't have to touch that bag again until arrival in Detroit. Amtrak transferred my luggage from the train to the Thruway Bus. I'm guessing that's not done anymore?