How much of a difference in time is the acela vs the regional service? What is the difference in price? Is the train much faster than the bus? Do the trains depart early in the morning like 5-6 AM?
Thanks-

You can find full schedules on www.amtrak.com.

The Acela is approx. 1 hour shorter than regional service.

Is Linda said, Acela is about 45-50 minutes faster, but at twice the cost and no additional comfort, really. I usually take the "slow train" when I go from DC to NYC, even when I go for work. One way is going to be $65-95 for the regional, $125-175 for the Acela.

The train is faster than the bus, but not much. The train is much more comfortable, but the bus is cheap. As a tourist, I wouldn't mess with the Chinatown or Orthodox Jewish buses, but stick with Greyhound/Peter Pan which have similar rates and much better reliability.

Not sure if the previous post meant similar rates between Chinatown buses and GH/PP or between GH and PP, but there is a substantial fare difference between Chinatown and GH/PP.

NY/DC roundtrip:

Greyhound/PP: $70
Chinatown Bus: $35

True, GH/PP is not as "user friendly", but you don't have to negotiate the Port Authority for PP/GH, but there is the language barrier and sometimes clueless drivers for the Chinatown buses.

You can get a round trip on Greyhound for $35 if you book online. On the page linked below, DC/NYC is the last item on the list under "Trip":

http://www.greyhound.com/scripts/Tic...er/esavers.asp

There have been some stories about the Chinatown buses lately. Drivers talking on cell phones and then dumping passengers on the side of the road if they complained. I can't remember whether it was DC/NY or Philly/NY.

Actually, that was one of the Orthodox Jewish buses, not the Chinatown buses, that dumped riders on the side of the road.

For tourists, I would never recommend taking those buses which are really designed for people who live in the two cities and have a level of savvy to deal with complications.

All of that said, as a tourist I would use the bus only if I'd lost all my money gambling and had to panhandle to get travel money. Amtrak is much simpler for tourists unfamiliar with DC and NYC.

Thanks for clarifying MikeT. I felt so badly for those travelers.

If you buy e-tickets frmo GH and PP, they run about the same as the CHinatown. I know the e0tickes for NYC-Boston are $15 each way which is exactly the same as CHinatown, and from my daughter's experiencem the GH bus has been reliable and has a very good schedule. Go to the greyhounds website and click on e-tickets. Throught hat you get the discounted rates.

I just checked, and as Anonymus already mentioend, roundtrip is $35. Oneway is $20. The good thing about these tickets is, even though they prompt for the date and time you plan on going, the ticket is accepted for any date or time as long as it's the same route. GH also seems to put on extra busses during busy travelling times.

I stand corrected. I didn't know about the GH/PP e-fares. I normally take the Chinatown buses because of fare comparisons I did awhile ago and always found GH/PP to be more expensive. On that note, "Go Greyhound".