Contrary to PPs, my last experience with Vamoose involved rushinh along 95 in a rainstorm at unsafe speeds. I took the train on the way back and will never bus it again.

avoid the fly by night cheapo buses... their safety and maintenance records are poor and I told my wife I'd pay for her Amtrak ticket rather than let her ride one of those potential death traps ... life is to short to buy it on a crap bus on the NJ Turnpike or wherever.

Anonymous wrote:I've done both train and bus a lot (though not with a toddler) and the Acela train is fantastic if you're willing to pay the money. But the regular Amtrak isn't all that great to me and I've had so many random delays and there are so many stops that I'd pick the bus over the Acela. But the nicer buses - Bolt or DC2NY are both good (not Chinatown and not Greyhound). They make either one stop or none and generally take 4.5 or 5 hours. Both have nice clientele and are not scary at all (not sure why some people mentioned safety as an issue, it is not on those buses).

Oh contraire. I rode DC2NY couple of years ago, and it was a scary experience. The driver sped all the way, weaving in and out of lanes.

Also, there's no pooing rule in the bus bathroom. The driver alluded to, "in the bathroom, coffee is allowed, but no donuts". That's hard for anyone doing a 4 hour ride, let alone small children.

OP,

I am the one who brought their 10 year old about a week ago.

One thing that I found wierd was that in boarding in Penn station in NY to go home, they don't list the track your train will depart from until about 15 minutes before it leaves. I found that a little frustrating, because I am used to airports where you know the gate HOURS before take off. It's funny to see a mob of people in the train terminal staring at the screen that shows the tracks--then listing gets updated and the mob of people RUNS to the track. I saw this happen several times while waiting, though not as much for our train. In the end, there was more than enough time for us to get to the train in time--it just made me feel kind of "antsy"--not knowing 'till the last minute, kwim?

If your train will be making all the stops along the way, there will probably be extra seats for your toddler when you first get on...they will probably make loudspeaker announcements telling you that the train is full and to not take up more than one seat per ticket, etc. so if you see the train getting full you can move her on to your lap. In our experience, the most new passengers seemed to come on in Philadelphia, which was about 1/2 way through the trip.

OP here: I bought train tickets. I have never traveled by train before - anything I should know? How much should I give to the "redcap" (whoever this is!) as tip? Are the 7:30am regular trains (tomorrow) usually crowded? I was hoping I could find an empty seat for my toddler

Can my husband go in with me to help me (not inside the train of course, but until the platform maybe)? I mean, like it used to be in airports before 2001?

Bus with a toddler would be very difficult. There are no seat belts to secure a car seat and no way to move around. So, your toddler would be free to move with no where to go for at least 5 hours. Take the train...the redcap will help you get a convenient seat that accomodates a child on your lap. It won't be relaxing either way, but the bus would be worse than the train, for sure.

Went last weekend to NYC with my 4th old to see the Christmas Show and I say the train! I loved it. On time and relaxing. Much more expensive though.

On the train I think you can get a redcap at Union Station to help you onto the train with your bags (nominally free but tip expected).

If you are flex with your travel times and buy a month advance tox for adults are $49 each way