Getting There By Rail
New York City’s rail services are primarily operated by Amtrak (tel: (215) 349 2152 or (800) 872 7245; website: www.amtrak.com). New high-speed services on the Eastern seaboard are a viable alternative to air travel on shorter routes, such as to Boston and Washington, DC. The city has two main stations. Grand Central Station, 42nd Street and Park Avenue, is the terminus for Metro-North Railroad (tel: (212) 340 3000; website: www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr), with services to upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Pennsylvania Station, referred to locally as Penn Station, 34th Street and Sixth Avenue, serves both Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad (tel: (718) 217 5477; website: www.mta.ncy.ny.us/lirr).
Penn Station and Grand Central Station both have ATMs, bars, cafs, waiting rooms, shops and taxi ranks and are very well equipped. Grand Central Station, in aesthetic terms, is a model of station regeneration and undoubtedly the city’s most impressive transport hub. Penn Station, on the other hand, is a bit sketchy and institutional, without many comfortable waiting areas. Plans to remodel the station as a glorious and airy iron-and-glass structure in the Farley Building, directly across from the current station on Eighth Avenue, are underway by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, but as yet, nothing has been done. When it comes to be, the new building will be the station’s third incarnation. The original building, designed by McKim, Mead and White and opened in 1910, was thoughtlessly demolished in the 1964 to make way for the present-day Madison Square Garden. This is cited as one of the city’s greatest mistakes; the building that currently stands in its place is a poor substitute.
Rail travel tends to be expensive, although a number of rail passes are available to visitors from overseas. There is no central rail information number for national rail travel and all enquires should be directed to the relevant provider.
Rail services: Amtrak offers frequent shuttles to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (journey time – 1 hour 30 minutes); Washington, DC (journey time – 3 hours); and Boston, Massachusetts (journey time – under 4 hours). There are services to Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Miami, Florida. Trains also go to Toronto and Montreal in Canada.
Transport to the city: Both stations are centrally located on Manhattan.
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Getting There By Rail