We rode the bus from Boston to Portland, Me. The NEC we took out of NYC arrived shortly after the Downeaster departed, and to avoid a long wait at the station we took the bus offered by Amtrak for the two hour trip. It was nice, comfortable and clean. It wasn't crowded, and they let us take one that left an hour ahead of the one we were ticketed for. Kind of neat. We got to ride in the Dig. Only thing I didn't like was the driver made an announcement that cell phones should be turned off during the trip. On the trip back to Boston, a different driver didn't say anthing about cell phones. The bus ride worked out well for us, since we were staying overnight in Portland. As a family of four, we had several pieces of luggage and would have had to get a taxi from South Station to North for Downeaster. Next trip, we'll stay in Boston and do day trip to Portland, so we can ride Downeaster.