scarboroughmom

Has anyone out there been on this bus route lately? Is it safe? I was going to put my elderly father on this bus, but a friend said that she would fear for his safety. It makes no sense to me that he would not be reasonably safe on this bus. Any help would be appreciated.

Yesthatdangreen

Hi,
Yes I've taken this bus many times. I've always been safe. The Peter Pan drivers are really helpful. I had to send a coworkers daughter on the bus and asked the driver to keep an eye on her. He was great. There really wasn't a need apparently, but nice to know they're willing to help.

yk

What?!?! "fear for his safety"?!?!

My sis-in-law just took this route last week; the Friday after Thanksgiving. We dropped her off at the Hartford bus station and she had no trouble whatsoever. I might not want to be at the bus station alone by myself in the middle of the night, but during the daytime the area is fine. And unless there's a psycho on the bus, I don't understand why the bus won't be safe.

Weadles

Is this bus considerably cheaper than Amtrak? Amtrak typically offers discounts for seniors, and has been running specials lately.

tchoiniere

I second yk's comments. Get on the bus ASAP then he will be fine.

Weadles, there are no direct routes on Amtrak and possible long layovers whereas the bus is a direct route.

Weadles

tchoiniere, Thanks! How strange that there's no direct route on the train from Hartford to Boston!

bachslunch

I've taken Peter Pan buses many times running between various destinations in Connecticut (including Hartford), Massachusetts, and New York -- and I've never once encountered a safety issue. Like yk, I wouldn't want to be hanging around the Hartford bus station by myself after it closes, but that's the only possible safety concern I'd seriously entertain here.

Will second tchoiniere's observation that there's no direct AMTRAK train between Hartford and Boston. You'd have to head to NYC and change trains there.

ggreen

FWIW, the transfer on Amtrak to get from Hartford to a Boston-bound train is in New Haven, not New York City. Northbound, these trains are timed to coincide - but that's not at all the case when trying to go south then north.

The bus is always as cheap or cheaper than the train, even with discounts (the bus has discounts too). And even where the train does run (e.g., NYC to Boston), the biggest advantage of bus over train is that the bus runs much more frequently, and often direct with no other stops.

bachslunch

ggreen, you're correct. The change point for the train is indeed New Haven. My error.

Bowsprit

Is there an Amtrak train that goes from Hartford to Springfield with a transfer to Boston?

Imagine traveling the distance south from Hartford to New Haven only to have to then travel back North to Boston!

tchoiniere

No there isn't. Just checked Amtraks site and New Haven is the only option. It also takes over 4 hours. Id just take the bus.

ggreen

Exactly what tchoiniere said. There is no east-west train in Massachusetts beyond the reach of the T commuter rail around Boston. (And I was not recommending going south to go northeast! LOL. Just pointing out that that is the only way to do it on the rails...)

Bus stations are even less charming than train stations (some of the latter being quite nice whereas I don't think I'd say the same for any of the former). But no reason to worry, just no fun to linger in!

china_cat

well, there is one east-west train in Massachusetts, it's the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to Boston, which stops in the Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Framingham as well as South Station Boston. I took it once from Pittsfield to Framingham, and it cost just $10 (for that leg) and was very pleasant.

I think you could take the Vermonter from Hartford to Springfield and connect that way. But I think the schedules are very limited, and not sure how the connections would work.

tchoiniere

China-cat, I punched in Hartford to Boston and tried manipulating it and couldn't get that option. Maybe if you did it as 2 one way tickets, but schedule may be nasty.

china_cat

I actually tried it as Hartford to Framingham, and it was the only option that popped out. I think it had a long layover, like 3 hours in Springfield. I believe both trains only have 1 or 2 trips per day.

Like I said, probably not practical, but its an option. And it might be cheap, since I think short legs on those longer train rides are less expensive than the standard east-coast corridor on Amtrak. I actually really enjoyed riding the train from Pittsfield to Framingham. Its got some pretty scenery.

Bowsprit

The only bad incident taking place on a but that I can think of was the beheading that took place on a Greyhound bus a few years ago. I don't remember where that happened. Are we headed toward scannings, x-rayings,and pat-downs for all public transportation passengers?

Bowsprit

should have type 'bus', not 'but'.

scarboroughmom

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up just driving to Hartford to pick my father up. I thought that the buses would be safe, but I could not find anyone to take my father to the station and make sure that he got on the right bus. I just thought I should check though. So thanks for the help.