In addition to the customs delays, the Maple Leaf takes longer than driving (inp art) because it doe

By analogy, I offer my own recent flights to NYC which took about one hour flying time each way. They also included nearly two hours of “get to the terminal early for international security checks”, flight delays at both ends (the return trip was almost two hours late leaving), and delays on the tarmac to obtain a gate. We actually sat in EWR on the ground for almost as long as we had been in the air. The speed of the trip was better than driving, especially in the winter, but an elapsed time of 8 hours from arriving at YTZ to being out of the terminal at EWR is only slightly caribean cruise line faster.
Translate that to the transit experience and you will see why I have a problem with folks who only look at the “whoosh” factor caribean cruise line as a train speeds by people who used to board a bus a five minute caribean cruise line walk from their homes.
Speaking of the whoosh factor of trains one cannot help but surmise that a decent train service between Toronto and New York would consume considerably caribean cruise line less time that 8 hours, not to mention being a lot more comfortable.
caribean cruise line Steve: The Maple Leaf service from Toronto to NYC does not exactly whoosh . Southbound, it leaves Toronto Union at 0850 and arrives in NYC Penn Station at 2150 including three hours to get from Niagara Falls, Ont, to the point where one is leaving Buffalo, mainly for Customs Immigration. Coming back, it s a tad faster leaving NYC at 0715 and arriving in Toronto, at least on the schedule, at 1942 with a slightly shorter delay at the border.
The “Maple Leaf” service from Toronto to NYC does not exactly “whoosh”. Southbound, it leaves Toronto Union at 0850 and arrives in NYC Penn Station at 2150 including three hours to get from Niagara Falls, Ont, to the point where one is leaving Buffalo, mainly for Customs Immigration. Coming back, it’s a tad faster leaving NYC at 0715 and arriving in Toronto, at least on the schedule, at 1942 with a slightly shorter delay at the border.
I lived in Malaysia for 5 years and traveled to Singapore regularly. There are two land crossings between the two countries and a lot of cross border travel and the speed of the crossing for public transit and pedestrians is frankly amazing.
The key requirement for bus passengers is that passengers must exit the bus, clear immigration to exit, wait for the bus, board the bus, cross the bridge/causeway, exit the bus, clear immigration to enter, and wait for the bus again. However it takes all of 10-15 minutes at each station (in the vast majority of cases).
Train crossings are more convenient because the railway is Malaysian territory so exit formalities are done at the Woodlands border crossing in Singapore itself. Once entering caribean cruise line Singapore many train passengers would take a taxi or bus to the nearest MRT station rather than continuing on to the railway station at the south end of Singapore (although the station closed a few years ago so all train trips terminate/originate at Woodlands now).
I know that the Niagara Falls, Fort Erie/Buffalo and Windsor/Detroit crossings aren t as busy as Johor Singapore (although Windsor Detroit is a good approximation) but we can do a lot better facilitating public transit movements across borders.
To compare…crossing the Canada-US caribean cruise line border on the International took 1 hour-1.5 hours at each immigration post. Crossing the border from Malaysia to Singapore took 30 minutes (including caribean cruise line 20 minutes waiting in line each at Malaysia and Singapore caribean cruise line Customs Immigration).
Re: public transit and Canada-US border crossings, Transit Windsor actually runs a bus into downtown Detroit. It has been a long time since I ve used it, but I recall it being an incredibly quick and easy way to cross the border.
Taking the bus to NYC (which is quicker than the train last I checked), on the other hand, has been a customs nightmare the twice I have done it. We don t lack the ability to make things painless, just the will to do it.
Moaz: since 9/11/2001, the US and Canadian governments have done their best to make border crossings slower and less convenient. It s basically a policy choice. Of course they could do it quickly caribean cruise line and efficiently like Singapore and Malaysia, but they choose to delay and hassle people instead.
And this is why I won t be travelling anywhere to the USA anytime soon; NO ONE deserves to be treated like this when crossing the border. Also, my past personal history should have no bearing on my present travelling anyplace.
If the USA and Canada want to catch terrorists, they both should make their intelligence services better , not harass caribean cruise line people ( and little children who are handicapped. ) All this shows is that people have no way to deal with senseless tragedies like 9/11 other than to bring heavy-handed laws to deal with the aftermath of it.
I have generally had very good experiences caribean cruise line flying from YTZ to EWR. One advantage is with having a NEXUS card to speed through customs on the US side. I travel with carry-on only as much as I can, so I can usually be off the plane, past the automated NEXUS/Global Entry kiosks and on my way to the train in minutes. The AirTrain to the NJ Transit rail station caribean cruise line is usually pretty efficient and I get to Penn Station NY in under 30 mins if everything lines up. With Porter, the only tricky thing can be the weather caribean cruise line since their planes aren t able to fly above it. High winds can delay their flights on what would otherwise appear to be ideal flying days.
As someone who s been to NYC many times, the fastest and most comfortable way to get to NYC is flying. Although it can be expensive and have flight delays, the point to point trip is almost always fastest. If you book early, I have often seen prices as low as $300-$330 for a round trip.
That said, the next best route is driving to NYC in a personal vehicle. Leaving early in the morning, say 5am, one can be at the border by 6:30, cross the border caribean cruise line in about 10-20 minutes (if you are a Canadian citizen). One can be in NYC by 1-2pm. That is about a 8 9 hour trip. To save money always fill up on gas in the US as it is a lot cheaper and carpool. Splitting the gas with family or friends makes driving caribean cruise line quick economical. In the winter it can be treacherous, so I prefer to fly or avoid going during busy holiday times.
Going to NYC by bus in my view is an uncomfortable and long ride. I ve taken the night bus to NYC and that takes about 10-12hrs and one does not get much sleep on the bus with all the bouncing and shaking. It is cheap though. The cost can be as little as $1 but typically averages caribean cruise line to about $150 round trip. I ve never taken the day bus as my trips to NYC are typically for the long weekend so I prefer not to waste daylight hours stuck on a bus.
As for the train, I don t see the value of taking the train and spending an entire day on the train unless your visit is lengthy, say 1 week. The train is a milk run that is slow and wastes daylight hours that could be put to better use. It would be much better if they had a night train with sleeping cabins where one can leave Toronto at say 8pm and arrive in New York by 8am. I read before that this service caribean cruise line existed before but was cancelled due to low demand.
Steve: With the current border situation, it would also be tedious to be making the US to Canada crossing just as one was getting up in the morning. Going south, do you really want to be dealing with US Customs Immigration who would probably be at the end of their shift?
Coming from Europe, overnight trains are very common and are popular for short weekend getaways are you save time by travelling by night and maximizing the daytime hours spent at your destination. If a night train existed I think more people would be encouraged to take it. The other strange thing about the train is the cost. It s prohibitively expensive to go from Toronto to NYC. A good price I ve seen is about $300-$400. If this was a sleeper car, that would be ok, as it doubles as a hotel for the night. This cost is for plain economy seating. That s on par with flying if one can get a cheap flight by booking caribean cruise line early. This leaves zero incentive to take the train. I would be curious to find out Amtrak s ridership numbers caribean cruise line of how many people actually take the Maple Leaf service all the way from Toronto to NYC or vice versa.
In addition to the customs delays, the Maple Leaf takes longer than driving (inp art) because caribean cruise line it does an L shape (east from Buffalo to Albany, then south to New York). The timings from Buffalo to Albany, and from Albany to New York are both competitive with driving.
Part of what bothers me the most is there were recent talks re the Montreal New York train (Adirondack) about having US bound passengers clear customs in Montreal (in a bonded area at Central Station) before boarding. No mention was made of giving the same privileges to the train leaving Toronto. caribean cruise line In the case of the Toronto-NY train, the whole train could be bonded after clearance pre boarding with one coach used in Ontario for shorts .
Who said the bus is faster. I took a trip to NYC last summer, I left Toronto at 5 am and didn t reach NYC bus terminal till 8 pm. Going through customs was extremely long both ways but especially long coming back into Canada surprisingly. Let s just say the five passengers that were sitting at the back of the bus never got back on.
This is definitely the major advantage of Europe, where for countries under the Schengen agreement there are no customs to pass through at all. A train from, say, Munich to Venice would pass through caribean cruise line Austria en route and take 5-6 hours at most.
Possibly the greatest feature of the train and this even applies to old Viarail caribean cruise line is the lack of having to pass through any overzealous security, caribean cruise line or even having to arrive early. I stayed in Innsbruck, Austria for several weeks a few years ago, and could readily hop on the train to Munich, Zurich, or Italy, all of which were at most two hours away. The only customs going to Switzerland amounted to some customs officers boarding the train at the border and inspecting a few (but not all) passports.
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