Best of the East: Ski Superlatives

[Geoff]

It's still not exactly reasonably priced going from the Seacoast to Boston via the train. My wife and I have lived on the Seacoast for 2 years. We spend probably 10 nights a year in Boston. We've only taken the train once from Exeter to Boston and that was when gas was $4/gallon. It was $55 round trip for the two of us. Leave from Dover and you're looking at $60 to $76 dollars depending on your travel times.

The Cheaper alternative is to head 15 minutes further south and grab the T in Newburyport. It's about half the price.

Its nice to sit back, relax and have a couple of beers, but I can make it too and from Boston for $45 including overnight parking. The cost difference with taking a train to the mountains would be substantially more as you the train ticket would double, but you don't have to pay for parking in ski country.

I think for trains to be competitive, they need to price tickets such that the cost of the tickets for two people is only slightly higher than what it would cost taking a car.

I glanced at the train schedule for Amtrak. It takes freakin' forever with jillions of stops along the way. The bus from Portsmouth to South Station is a lot quicker. $26.00 same day round trip from Dover or Portsmouth to South Station.

 

[oakapple]

I've looked at using the train to get to Philly on business trips and always ended up flying instead. It really doesn't work. If the Rutland/NYC trip could be done in 3 hours, I'd use it all the time.

Oh, I would never do it for business. The beauty of the NYC–Rutland service is that it leaves New York at 5:40 p.m. on a Friday, so you can work nearly a whole day and make it to Vermont for skiing the next morning. Then, you can get in nearly the whole day of skiing on Sunday before catching the return at 4:45 p.m. The trip is nearly six hours each way, but you can sleep, drink, or just plain relax—none of which you can do while driving.

Going to/from Philadelphia adds another two hours, and I think that’s well past the tipping point of practicality, unless you’re just someone who loves trains. I don’t think Rutland/NYC will be a 3-hour train journey in our lifetimes, but they can probably get it down to 4½.

Resorts that are close enough should belly up to a scheduled shuttle bus services to/from train/bus stations. That might alone bring attract more customers and help the "green" message. Don't know unless you try it.

The NYC–Rutland route is too long to be a day trip. The taxis up there are inexpensive, but unless you stay at the resort you’ll need them more than just to/from the train station.