Erie PA station

  • Thread starter nervous train rider
  • Start date
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
N

nervous train rider

Guest
I'm thinking about taking my four children on a short trip from Niagara Falls to Erie PA. I realize the ride is only about two hours long but I thought this would be a nice quick trip. My question is has anyone ever been to the station in Erie? Do you know if you can rent a van there? We would not be arriving untill late so I'm not sure about transportation. Any helpful suggestions would be great. :) Thank you!
 
Click Here for station info on Erie, PA, served by the Lake Shore Limited. It says Taxi Service is on call and Transportation Services are available. Keep in mind the Station is unstaffed, but does have an enclosed waiting area, with payphones and restrooms, and paid long and short term parking.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask additional questions. :)
 
Well the definition of enclosed can vary from station to station. Examples: Delray Beach, the website says it has an enclosed waiting area, when in reality all it is is a 5 car platform with 3 overhangs and some benches. Okeechobee FL, a bus stop style waiting area. Then there are higher end unstaffed stations like the regular Sanfrod station which has vending machines padded seats and clean restrooms. So it can vary from station to station.
 
If you were to use an unmanned station, I would advise you to have a cell phone, or have some sort of advance arrangement to be met. Payphones possibly could be out of order, and a cell phone would ensure that you could contact a cab company just in case. I would also go online to Yahoo yellow pages, and find local cab companies in Erie, and have there phone numbers stored in your cell phone. That way, you could order a cab before the train arrives in the station.
 
nervous train rider said:
I'm thinking about taking my four children on a short trip from Niagara Falls to Erie PA. I realize the ride is only about two hours long but I thought this would be a nice quick trip. My question is has anyone ever been to the station in Erie? Do you know if you can rent a van there? We would not be arriving untill late so I'm not sure about transportation. Any helpful suggestions would be great. :) Thank you!
Also, keep in mind that the Lake Shore Limited, the only train that serves Erie, PA, does not serve Niagara Falls. Some trains do go to Niagara Falls, but they are oriented to the east (Albany and New York City) and do not provide convenient transfers with the Lake Shore Limited. Your best bet is to use the station at Buffalo-Depew (NOT the downtown Buffalo station at Exchange Street!). You could get from Niagara Falls to Buffalo on the local #40 bus, and then transfer at the transportation center in downtown Buffalo to another bus that will take you to Depew.
 
Thank you for your help. On the amtrak schedual it says that we can either take the 49 train or 449 train. They are both shown leaving at the same time. Are they the same train and if they are why would they have different numbers? Thanks again.
 
They are indeed the same train. The reason for the two different numbers is that once the train reaches Albany it splits in two. One section, the 49, runs to New York. The other section 449, runs to Boston.
 
I find it interesting that it is the same train because the price is $20 more for one of the trains. I guess I can't figure that one out.
 
nervous train rider said:
I find it interesting that it is the same train because the price is $20 more for one of the trains. I guess I can't figure that one out.
This is most likely because Amtrak considers this like "two trains in one". The New York section is even staffed differently than the Boston section. The Boston Section is staffed out of Chicago, and the New York Section is staffed out of New York. And likely, there are more seats open on the on than the other, so therefore it would be cheaper to book it that way. You may actually be on one section's coaches, as opposed to the other's.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top