Montreal-to-Boston Overnight "Hotel" Train Via Portland

The fares on the Boston-Burlington-Montreal corridor directly show the impact of competition for intercity buses.

Using next Friday the 13th as a travel day I find the following:

If I go to us.Megabus.com to book a seat on DATTCO's Boston-Burlington VT route that day, I can still get a $10.00 ticket for the 6:30 AM departure while it will cost me $29.00 to buy a ticket on the 3:30 PM departure.

When I checkout Greyhound.com, I find I can get an advanced purchase ticket from Boston to Burlington for $20, a web only fare for $25, a standard fare for $39.00, and a refundable fare for $45.00.

When I checkout Greyhound's fares from Burlington to Montreal, I find just a standard fare of $29.00 and a refundable fare for $34.00

When I checkout Greyhound's fare to ride the entire route from Boston to Montreal I find a web only fare of $80, a standard fare of $85, and a refundable fare of $96.00.

So in theory, I could buy an advanced purchase ticket from Greyhound to travel Boston to Burlington for $20, briefly get off the bus and stretch my legs at Burlington, and then get back on and hand the driver a $29.00 ticket to ride the very same bus the rest of the way from Burlington to Montreal for a grand total price of $49.00. I save $31 compared to the $80 through ticket by just getting out of my seat and back on the bus.
 
Is any of that time/distance-based fare bins that happen to create a loophole, or entirely competition? I ask because I've seen the same effect on Amtrak when leaving Boston in the afternoon - once, I saved 15 dollars going to New Hven by walking down the platform to a different car at Providence
 
The EGE said:
Is any of that time/distance-based fare bins that happen to create a loophole, or entirely competition? I ask because I've seen the same effect on Amtrak when leaving Boston in the afternoon - once, I saved 15 dollars going to New Hven by walking down the platform to a different car at Providence
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I would say the presence of DATTCO/Megabus in the Boston-Burlington market has a lot to do with those Greyhound fares. Greyhound is the only carrier providing direct service from Boston to Montpelier, a shorter distance than Boston-Burlington. If I try to buy a Boston-Montpelier ticket for Friday 12/13, the only fare offered at Greyhound.com is a non-refundable $57.00 one-way fare. Even the refundable Boston-Burlington fare is cheaper for a longer trip on the very same bus.
 
"A northern anchor in the Quebec capital" - The capital city of the province of Quebec is Quebec (City), right? Not Montreal. The article, however, is talking about service to Montreal.
 
Can't expect Americans to know things about Canada, eh
 
EricS said:
"A northern anchor in the Quebec capital" - The capital city of the province of Quebec is Quebec (City), right? Not Montreal. The article, however, is talking about service to Montreal.
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On a side note, a rail link to Ville de Quebec would make much more sense as well. I know lots of folks who love to take a trip up to Quebec City without having to take the six and a half hour drive up I-93 to I-91.
 
When does this hotel train service start? Do they have a website?
 
It's been a while since I've seen anything new on this, then I stumbled upon this article today:

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/americ...cle_22365006-f331-11e4-b72d-9bfac21bb240.html

Specifically, this quote:

A Maine railroad startup, Golden Eagle Rail Corp., has declared its intention to move freight on the Mountain Division line starting as early as this summer. The firm is awaiting the outcome of lease negotiations with the Maine Department of Transportation. Golden Eagle President David Schwanke could not be reached for comment by the newspaper’s deadline.
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Not sure if moving freight is a precursor to the planned passenger service, but it's something. Also, with the DOT moving forward with allowing people to traverse the rail line, it doesn't seem like those lease negotiations are getting very far.

I still think this will be a cool niche touristy thing. It's not going to be for business travelers or people looking to get from Point A to Point B in the fastest or cheapest manner, but I do think the tourism draw from Quebec to Old Orchard Beach is strong enough to support it.
 
Dr. StrangeHat said:
It's been a while since I've seen anything new on this, then I stumbled upon this article today:

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/americ...cle_22365006-f331-11e4-b72d-9bfac21bb240.html

Specifically, this quote:



Not sure if moving freight is a precursor to the planned passenger service, but it's something. Also, with the DOT moving forward with allowing people to traverse the rail line, it doesn't seem like those lease negotiations are getting very far.

I still think this will be a cool niche touristy thing. It's not going to be for business travelers or people looking to get from Point A to Point B in the fastest or cheapest manner, but I do think the tourism draw from Quebec to Old Orchard Beach is strong enough to support it.
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This is the stuff of ice cream-sharting unicorns. Golden Eagle's been tooting its horn for years about big plans, and they never materialized. They're some dude's scam operation. Same as that guy whose "railroad" is a P.O. box at an Arlington Center law office who's proposing to run private Providence-Worcester commuter rail for only $3M.

Maine's been trying to find excuses to do something with the line ever since it got highway-robbed by Pan Am when buying the inactive portion from Westbrook to the state line for way more than it was worth...then wasted an entire TIGER grant replacing some rail in a vain attempt to try to convince people the trains were coming. They did a passenger study back then, and the ridership was a big fat nothing. The line, while intact, is in such deteriorated condition from 32 years of inactivity Westbrook-Conway, NH that it would need a total hardware replacement to be operable. Conway Scenic RR is the only traffic on almost 40 miles of it in New Hampshire, and save for a small overlap entirely within the town of Whitefield with a part-time shortline operator there's been no freight traffic on it since the early-80's. The west end from Whitefield to St. Johnsbury, VT has likewise been inactive for over 10 years, likewise in deplorable shape, and is being held hostage by the line owner which refuses to sell to State of Vermont. At least that portion has a *little* bit of interest from real--not fake--freight carriers who'd gain new interchange access with the other Vermont carriers if they could cross the state line. No such potential anywhere else, and Conway Scenic or a Conway Scenic-like tourist operator just wouldn't have the pockets to ever be able to rehab that many miles of track to run at a brisk 10 MPH.

It's dead. It's nice that they're keeping the rails intact next to the trail because you can use recreational speeders, and some brush cutting and inspection could extend that territory. That's more progressive-thinking protection for an end-to-end thru route than every other state that just lets the trail lobbies rip the rails clean out never to return. But, no, there will never be new train traffic on it. Definitely not freight after 32 years of trying and coming up empty. Probably not tourist unless somebody with hugely deep pockets comes along...because that certainly isn't a good use of state funds for the work it entails. How many more scammers and planning studies is Maine going to waste its time on reaching exactly the same conclusion?



St. Lawrence & Atlantic RR out of Auburn is the direct Montreal route, and they actually keep their line in immaculate condition. It would only be 35-40 MPH passenger, but it's a stable long-term prospect and they're owned by the parent company of NECR (Vermonter landlord) so they're passenger-friendly. Montreal's way way too long at that speed and there's not a whole lot else up there, but at least that's a major daily freight corridor that'll still be there and well taken-care of in 50 years.


Unfortunately, NNEPRA keeps floating pants-on-fire stupid proposals to fork the Downeaster to Auburn as if Maine somehow has the same population served by the Northeast Regionals in Virginia. The ridership on the Brunswick extension stinks; it absolutely craters after Portland. And that's probably natural demand exerting itself: Portland = awesome travel market, north-of-Portland = not so much. I could see plowing them forward to Augusta on the Brunswick route since they made their bed choosing Brunswick and might as well make themselves game for pressing on to state capitol (on another mostly inactive--but not nearly as useless--line that the state overpaid for). But this fantasy about Auburn on a separate route...no, just no. Not unless they start a homegrown service with some non-Amtrak operator, which they aren't in any universe near being able to afford to do. Amtrak has far better offers to listen to from other states for its ops and equipment than listening to short attention-span theatre like this, and if NNEPRA doesn't focus a lot more singularly on shoring up the Brunswick ridership before floating all these pie-in-sky proposals they're going to get tuned out. And they're just not big enough to get tuned back in for national rail funding attention once they get tuned out.
 
Where can I find ice cream-shirting unicorns? My son would love one of those. :cool:
 
Arlington said:
http://goldeneaglerailwaycorporation.com/ is the website.
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I give them a 7 out of 10 on the Photoshop job. Demerit for mistaking an F40 for a GP40, though.

GP40.jpg


1024px-Grand_Canyon_Railway_EMD_F40PH_-_01.jpg
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
I give them a 7 out of 10 on the Photoshop job. Demerit for mistaking an F40 for a GP40, though.
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It wouldn't be a crazy transit pitch if it didn't involve photoshop.

Even if it launches, it still amounts to basically a one-off un-generalizable nothing with no obvious second act, kind of like the the ferries that ply from Maine to the Maritimes, which are for real, but it isn't like the they change the national transportation landscape.

In many ways, the Cape Flyer is a much bigger deal (as a pilot service for growth and upgrades), but still, even I'd have to admit the Cape Flyer had no significant impact on anything tourist-wise, and neither did the Downeaster's extension to Freeport and Brunswick.

Objects of fascination, yes. Meaningful? Probably not.
 
Arlington said:
It wouldn't be a crazy transit pitch if it didn't involve photoshop.

Even if it launches, it still amounts to basically a one-off un-generalizable nothing with no obvious second act, kind of like the the ferries that ply from Maine to the Maritimes, which are for real, but it isn't like the they change the national transportation landscape.

In many ways, the Cape Flyer is a much bigger deal (as a pilot service for growth and upgrades), but still, even I'd have to admit the Cape Flyer had no significant impact on anything tourist-wise, and neither did the Downeaster's extension to Freeport and Brunswick.

Objects of fascination, yes. Meaningful? Probably not.
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Well, most crazy pitches are sincere if unrealistic, and don't involve lying about acquiring passenger equipment that doesn't exist.


Also...the "Golden Eagle Club"? $150 for "Gold" membership, $50 for "Silver", $10 yearly...and $6.50 shipping??? For shipping a paper certificate saying you're a member of the "Golden Eagle Club". That takes 8 weeks for delivery. With $25 extra if you want to request a member number. You don't even get a member number unless you buy the "Gold" package...meaning, there is no traceable record that you are actually a member. And you're supposed to get regular e-mail updates with your club membership...but they only request a check or money order for club membership. To be mailed to the headquarters of the "company": a single-family residence in Norridgewock. And there is no contact e-mail address anywhere on the site to check the status of your membership.



Yeah, seems legit.
 
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