Submitted by 53mV3 t3_z8ld71 in WorcesterMA
I'm wondering how easy it is to reliably get to and from NYC if you live in Worcester,
I've spoken to a resident who tells me the train is very quick and convenient to get there, but google tells me that the train ride is over 4 hours each way, which doesn't seem to convenient for day trips.
Is this true? Could someone living in Worcester regularly travel to and from NYC within reason? (ie. not taking up the whole day traveling)
Thank you for this answer, and yeah, I definitely don't live in Worcester, nor do I know much about it. I am considering attending college in the area.
Even driving, you’re at a minimum 3.5 hours to NYC from Worcester and that’s not counting traffic. 4 hours sounds reasonable to me for a train ride
The easiest way to get there is fly. There are multiple flights from Worcester airport to NYC everyday. It's extremely convenient, a very fast flight and actually fairly cheap
You can take a train from Union Station to NYC. You just need to take it out to Boston and all the way down the coast first. Which takes something like 6 hours.
My sister lives in NYC and we visit each other regularly.
Flying is awesome and it’s a 35 minute flight. JetBlue & American to JFK and Delta to LGA http://flyorh.com/
There’s also Peter Pan bus which goes direct between Union Station and Port Authority and is about 3.5 hours. One bus a day but it rally has always worked great and been on time. Definitely not as painful as NYC-BOS buses. https://peterpanbus.com/
There is also OurBus which is newer so I haven’t tried them yet: https://www.ourbus.com/
The train is not really a decent option unless you have an easy way to get down to Providence. (There is shockingly no bus from Worcester to Providence). Going backwards to Boston is silly.
Or to Albany then down the Hudson. That's what Amtrak wants you to do.
I live north of Worcester. Always struggle with this, "easy" doesn't seem to be a thing
Unless you fly 4 hours is the best time
I’ve made plenty trips down to and from NYC, and if you drive during non rush hours, it’s easily ~2 hours 45 minutes (though I was going to Queens so I would probably add another 30 if you’re heading to Manhattan).
Flying is the best option, and it’s relatively cheap. One way can be as low as $35 if you book several weeks out. It’s definitely more convenient if you’re staying in queens, since you’ll be landing there.
Bus is reliable as well, and I’ve had good experiences with greyhound, Peter Pan, and Ourbus. It does take a little longer, around 3-4 hours but gets you right to Manhattan.
My sister in law lives on Manhattan and comes up by bus to Union Station all the time. My wife has flown to JFK and LGA and back plenty of times from Worcester airport ORH. Works great either way.
I had a stop-over from Worcester (ORH) to JFK and it took like 30 minutes in the air. Getting through security (at ORH) was a breeze, too. No traffic to get in there. If I had to go to NYC that’s how I’d do it. It wouldn’t be financially viable as a daily commute kind of thing, I wouldn’t think. Definitely a great way to get there quick.
In short busses are the most convenient way of gettin there. It goes to the heart of Manhattan straight from the Worcester union station and is cheap.
The flight is nice itself but not as convenient due to the location of both airports depending on where you are and want to go in both cities so it might be slightly faster but a lot more to consider.
There is no direct train from worcester to NYC, as per my comment.
I live south of Worcester - drove 1.5 hrs to New Haven and did cheap long term parking at the train station there. Then I took a 1.5 hr amtrack train to NYC. Definitely enjoyed it since I didn’t have to spend too much time either in the car or on the train
If you're going to drive down to CT to take a train to NYC go to the West Haven Metro North Station free parking on weekends.
I’m moving out there in a couple months and was wondering about this since I’ve heard very mixed reviews about the airport
I used it twice and loved how easy it was. I work with someone who uses it almost monthly. The only problem he ever had was Jet Blue cancelling a flight.
Good to know! Most of my family lives in NJ so that would be a lot more convenient than driving
My partner and I travel to NYC a lot for work and fun. ORH to JFK is super fast and inexpensive, and can be done round trip in one day. IMO the downside pain is getting from JFK to Manhattan, if that's where you're headed -- though I live <10 min from ORH which compensates.
Love Amtrak because you land in midtown, hate driving to the Rt. 128 station from Worcester. It's (usually) more expensive and takes longer than flying, but I can work on the train.
Another post also says driving is fine -- I totally agree, depending where you're going and timing. Traffic's reasonable except like the last 45 min into the city.
Driving from worcester to Boston adds another hour out of the way, making the trip longer, while CT is on the way.
The West Haven Metro North Station is in West Haven CT and closer than the Stamford stop on the same line. Idk why you're bringing up driving to Boston?? Metro North doesn't even go into MA and is overall cheaper than Amtrak typically.
As someone who drives to queens every week from Worcester for work. 84 and 95 both range from 3 hours at best to 4 and a half hours at worst. Winter seems to help with traffic, due to the beach/event travel is limited. **Edit my travel doesn't typically align with normal commuting hours.
I used to go to NYC each weekend. I've taken car, bus, and train. By far the best option was to drive. It didn't take nearly as long as the train or the bus. Take 90 to 84 then take that to the Merritt Parkway to the Cross County to the Major Degan to the Third Avenue Bridge (or Willis Ave Bridge) into Harlem, and take the Harlem River Drive to the FDR and you've got a quick trip (not during rush hour!) with no tells except for a few dollars on the Pike. If you really want to save, take Route 20 to Interstate 84, but that adds some time.
I go to Brooklyn about 4-5 times a year, may start to more for work / honestly just considering just moving to New York next year, so I’ve done the trek quite a bit (also through Boston when I lived there too, deff easier from Boston even if it’s technically longer to get to from there)
Flying is the easiest way through ORH (though the carbon footprint!!!!!). And getting out of JFK takes far longer than the flight, I’m gonna try Delta to LaGuardia next time.
The Greyhound or Peter Pan from Union Station is honestly fine depending on the driver, though I avoid that method in the winter months if there might be snow.
Or if you have friends in Boston like I do (take commuter rail to get into Boston) I’ll stay over with them and then take an early morning Acela Amtrak train. I guess you could also drive down to Providence or New Haven to catch the Amtrak train, but that somehow in my mind seems like more work.
I literally just found this thread while in NYC.
I took the Acela Train from Boston, and the ride was cool. I love trains and I don’t get to ride often enough. But the train is 75% of why I made this trip.
So in short +1 for the train.
P.S. The Acela did Boston to Providence in less than 30 minutes which was pretty cool.
You sometimes run into issues where the planes can’t land. When that happens you’re usually diverted to Boston.
Does that happen frequently in your experience?
My son is going to college in Worcester and has taken the bus once and plan once - both were reasonable. Remember if your goal is to get to midtown Manhattan that the trip from JFK is 40 mins on average.
Question about the train there is a Worcester stop on this line:
https://www.amtrak.com/lake-shore-limited-train
Has anyone take that?
OurBus has been good for this route in my experience!
My go to is parking in New Haven or Stamford depending on my driving stamina (Stamford is further into the city but cheaper parking) and taking the metro north
CatumEntanglement t1_iyc4us0 wrote
This post sounds like you don't live in Worcester. It's not quick to get to NYC.
There is no direct train from worcester to NYC. If you want to take a train, then you either drive to Providence and hop on the amtrack there to nyc...or drive down farther to Stamford CT and pick up the amtrack train there. Or you drive/take a bus directly to NYC. Driving might take you anywhere from 3.5hrs to 5hrs depending on traffic or where in NYC you're going to. The train, if it's the Acela line, will take 3.5hrs to go from Providence to Penn Station in nyc. No matter what mode of transportation, it's going to be around 4hrs.
If you're thinking of wanting short day trips to NYC... that's not going to happen. A short day trip would be going to a city like Boston. NYC is more like a weekend trip.