Northeast USA Bike Train Feedback

Suggested routes, starting points and cycling destinations in the Northeast
by Larry Lagarde

The idea of applying the Canadian bike-train concept to destinations in the USA has touched a collective nerve among cyclists across the country. I've received so many specific comments & suggestions regarding where to run a bike train that it seems foolish to keep them to myself.

To help cyclists that are interested in taking their own bikes on Amtrak to get to cycling destinations, I've decided to publish more of the helpful bike train suggestions I've collected. This post focuses on suggestions along the USA's eastern seaboard from Virginia to Maine.

Massachusetts
S. Winslow

- South Station Boston to Providence - where bicyclists could pick up the East Bay Trail.
- South Station Boston to Providence / Worcester to Boston: a train trip could be sponsored by the Blackstone National Heritage Corridor - Bicyclists could be drop off in Providence.. ride the Blackstone Heritage Trail, overnighting one day, and then pick up the bike train back in Worcester for the trip to Boston..
- Boston to NYC for the 5 Boro Bike Tour in May
- NYC to Boston for the Hub on Wheels ride in September
- Boston to Portland ME via the Downeaster..

The MBTA has a bike train that runs from Boston to Gloucester on weekends in the summer that is very successful..

Too bad this could not go to Cape Cod on the weekends.. that would be a huge hit possibly.

New Jersey
(Daneen M. Morris, Camden Greenways, Inc.)

We are close to Philadelphia... I can see this being a feasible location for a Bike Train.

Vermont
(Nancy Schulz, Executive Director, Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition)

My suggestion would be the Amtrak train than runs between Montreal and Boston. Making the trains more bicycle-friendly is a goal we heartily endorse but it's proven to be a tough one. Good luck!

Virginia
J. Wampler

10 reasons why Amtrak should consider the Richmond area for bike train service.

1) Virginia is home to more of the United States Numbered Bicycle Route system than any other state. Both USBR 1 and USBR 76 cross the state, and they intersect near Richmond.
2) The Virginia Capital Trail, an off-road route linking Richmond to Williamsburg, is scheduled for completion in 2012. This route, along scenic and historic route 5, links plantations and local parks to Jamestown and the Colonial National Historical Park.
3) Richmond is the state capital, and advocates travel here during the legislative season.
4) The Richmond Fan District is one of the largest intact late-19th- and early-20th-century neighborhoods in the country and encompasses about 85 city blocks west of the Richmond downtown commercial area. The grid-like pattern of this neighborhood is bike/ped-friendly, and the architecture is tremendous!
5) The Richmond Area Bicycling Association (RABA) is an active, well-organized club that offers many excursions in the Richmond area.
6) Richmond is the future home of BikeWalk Virginia.
7) There are 20-plus miles of mountain bike trails along the James River in Richmond.
8) The Richmond area is rich in both Revolutionary and Civil War history. The John Smith Trail describes the interface between the early settlers and Virginia Indians in Richmond four hundred years ago.
9) Destinations around Richmond provide additional bicycling opportunities. Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County has 7000 acres and 50+ miles of trail. Petersburg National Battlefield is a 2,517-acre park that also attracts cyclists.
10) Richmond is centered between the Washington/Baltimore metro area, which has a number of active cyclists, and Hampton Roads, another large metro area with a growing cycling community.

Multi State Passenger Rail Service

Downeaster Regional Train (Boston, MA - Portland, ME via NH)
(Terri Diffin, Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority)

Up to 8 bikes can be rolled onto the Downeaster. Bikes can be loaded and unloaded only at the manned stations (Portland, Wells and Boston). The fee for a bike is $5. Boxed bikes are not allowed as they are considered checked baggage.

DC-NYC
Tom M, Cyclist

At one time, Amtrak did offer "roll-on baggage car" service from NYC to Washington DC, and I used that service at least four times a season. Since they discontinued the service, I haven't ridden Amtrak once.

Amtrak does have posted rules that make it APPEAR simple enough to box a bike and put it on the train. However, when I've called, Amtrak staff have been uncertain of the details and worse, only a few trains have baggage cars that would allow boxed bikes. Contrast that with New York's MTA, which allows roll on service and very often during summer weekends will just turn over the last passenger car to the cyclists!

The big tragedy is that both Penn Station in NYC and Union Station in Washington DC are adjacent to beautiful off-street cycling paths. Talk about an intermodal transit dream!

PA-DC
(Tom Sexton, Northeast Region Director, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy)

Last year I priced out a charter from Pittsburgh to DC as the start of our 500 person trail ride from DC to Pittsburgh. We never did it the, not that we thought we couldn't raise 70K they required, but it was just so slow - 6 hours when you could drive it in 3. The regular train would be the same time. However, I still think this is a compelling (longest trail in the US) route and endpoints with other stops if riders would like to do shorter mileage.

CT, DE, MD, NJ, PA
(Robert P. Thomas, AIA, Partner, Campbell Thomas & Co.)

-New London CT Amtrak Station is but a few steps from the dock of the seasonal ferry to Block Island, a cycling paradise
-Newark DE connects with the nice college town of Newark, and trails along the White Clay Creek all the up into Pennsylvania
-BWI Airport Station MD connects directly with the BWI Trail and the B&A Trail to Annapolis -- a great day trip, or a weekend trip with an overnight in Annapolis
-New Brunswick NJ connects directly with the D&R Canal Trail after a short ride through the attractive Rutgers campus.
-Trenton NJ connects with the D&R Canal Trail segment going north to Lambertville and Frenchtown.
-Downingtown PA connects with the Struble Trail and Marsh Creek State Park

(Christopher Linn, AICP, Senior Environmental Planner, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission)

Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is a major hub for Amtrak. As for "cycling destinations" a few hours from Philadelphia by train, there are many, so it's hard to come up with a concise list."
Editor's Note: Given that New Yorkers are moving to Philly and commuting back to NYC via Amtrak, Philly is obviously a short hop by train from many major bike trails along Amtrak's NE corridor.